$6,000 in donations will support workshops with professional jazz musicians

NORTHAMPTON—One of the first students Paul Kinsman got to work with when he landed a student teaching position at Northampton High School was Elliot Ross. “He was a soft-spoken, kind young man who was looking to play bass guitar,” Kinsman remembered. “As a person, Elliot was funny, intelligent and had a huge soul. As a musician, he was a big collaborator. He had a large community of musicians with whom he was friends and with whom he made music.”

When Ross died on Nov. 2 last year, at the age of 21, his parents, Hank and Paula Ross, asked that donations be made to the Jazz in the Schools Program, which had been launched at John F. Kennedy Middle School in the fall of 2018 by organizers of the Northampton Jazz Festival; the goal was to expose student musicians to the mentorship of professional jazz artists. That program still exists and is called the Davis Financial Group Jazz in the Schools Program in honor of its donor.

Nearly 60 individual donations have been received in Elliot Ross’ memory, totaling just under $6,000, and those gifts will support making music available to more students, but this time at Northampton High School. This second program has been named the Elliot Ross Jazz in the Schools Program, and it will continue to expand students’ exposure to jazz at the high school level, along with the high school’s newly formed jazz band and jazz vocal band, led by Kinsman, Northampton High School’s new director of instrumental music.

“Bringing my love of music to Northampton High School has been a dream of mine, and the Jazz in the Schools program is going to be instrumental in doing that,” Kinsman said. “It’s bittersweet being able to do so with the help of family and friends of a student who passed away and an arresting reminder of how deeply we are connected through what we love.”

“We are profoundly touched by the outpouring of support that the Ross’ family and friends have provided to the Jazz in the Schools Program in Elliot’s memory,” Northampton Jazz Festival President Ruth Griggs said. “The $6,000 raised to date will support this second Jazz in the Schools Program for at least two years, with workshops with professional jazz artists occurring three times a year.”

This year’s workshops start on March 4, when vocalist Samirah Evans—billed as a “soulful” performer with New Orleans roots—and trumpeter Don Anderson, along with the Green Street Trio will be working with the high school jazz band. The students will incorporate their learning into a New Orleans jazz-themed performance during an all-school assembly at the high school on March 5 at 12:30 p.m., accompanied by the Green Street Trio. Both Evans and Anderson will then perform at Northampton’s City Sports Grille on March 5 at 7 p.m. as part of the weekly Northampton Jazz Workshop, and students will be invited to join the jazz jam in the latter part of the evening.

The Davis Financial Group Jazz in the Schools Program will continue at the JFK Middle School as a collaboration between Northampton Jazz Festival Producer Paul Arslanian and JFK Middle School Band Director Claire-anne Williams. Two programs are already scheduled for the spring semester at JFK Middle School. Workshops will be led by saxophonist and educator Don Braden on Feb. 11 and 12, and by tenor saxophonist and vocalist Camille Thurman on May 20 and 21. Both musicians will be accompanied by the Green Street Trio.

The Davis Financial Group Jazz in the Schools Program—the original program—took shape last August, when Northampton Jazz Festival organizers teamed up with Northampton public schools to bring professional musicians to the middle school to work with students in the seventh and eighth grade jazz bands, thanks to initial donations by the Davis Financial Group of Hadley. Gary Smulyan, the most acclaimed jazz baritone saxophone player in the world for 12 years, kicked off the program with an Oct. 29 workshop, shortly after the conclusion of the 2018 Northampton Jazz Festival.

Prior to the fall of 2018, students who studied jazz with Williams at JFK Middle School were unable to continue their studies at the high school level within the Northampton school system. That all changed when Northampton High School launched its jazz band and jazz vocal program with the start of the school year.

“Now, with Paul Kinsman leading the jazz band at the high school, students can continue the jazz education they started in middle school,” Griggs said. “It opens up a new realm of possibility for aspiring jazz musicians. Having the Elliot Ross Jazz in the Schools Program to enrich and expand their exposure to live jazz performance is a tremendous bonus for the high school students.”

“I hope the Elliot Ross Jazz in the Schools Program will be a longstanding program at Northampton High School,” Kinsman said. “By carrying Elliot’s name forward, we’re nodding to the fact that this style of music could be somebody’s entrance into a life-long love of music.”

As a freshman in 2012, Ross was a student in Jazz Workshop, a class Kinsman was student teaching where students would study the genre, build their repertoire and perform songs. Even after Ross graduated, Ross and Kinsman stayed in touch, reuniting in 2015 in Vietnam—where Kinsman was teaching and Ross was traveling—to talk about Ross’ musical dreams.

“Elliot’s first love was jazz, but that branched off to include other styles like funk and rock,” Kinsman remembered. “Everyone loves music, but not everyone finds their love of music through band or chorus. Elliot found that love by playing jazz with his bass, which is why carrying on his name through the Jazz in the Schools Program is so important. It means making music as inclusive as possible.”

Donations for the Elliot Ross Jazz in the Schools Program at Northampton High School and the Davis Financial Group Jazz in the Schools Program at JFK Middle School are welcome, and can be made to: Northampton Jazz Festival, P.O. Box 631, Northampton, MA 01061. Please indicate the specific program you wish the funds to go to in the memo line of your check.

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Saxophonist Gary Smulyan to instruct JFK Middle School jazz bands on Oct. 29 and 30

NORTHAMPTON—Organizers of the 2018 Northampton Jazz Festival are teaming up with Northampton public schools to bring a professional musician to John F. Kennedy Middle School to work with students in the seventh and eighth grade jazz bands.

Gary Smulyan, the most acclaimed jazz baritone saxophone player in the world for 12 years, will kick off the new, ongoing Jazz in the Schools program, which is expected to roll out in multiple sessions each year, beginning this year on Oct. 29. As part of the program, students will receive instruction from Smulyan, and the professional will play alongside the student musicians in a performance.

The new student education program is funded in part by the jazz festival, with help from individual donors. Allen Davis and the Davis Financial Group of Hadley are the first key sponsors of Jazz in the Schools, having made initial gifts. Davis also has pledged additional support for up to five years.

“It was easy to decide to get behind as great a cause as Jazz in the Schools,” said Davis, certified financial planner and founder of the Davis Financial Group. “By pairing professional jazz musicians with young, aspiring players, it gives the students a role model to look up to and learn from. Playing alongside a pro could be just the thing to inspire them with a passion for jazz and fuel their dreams.”

Also supporting the initiative is a fundraiser, The Hotel Northampton Jazz Brunch, which will be held on Oct. 21 at noon in the Grand Ballroom of the hotel. A jazz ensemble from JFK will perform as guests arrive, and jazz musicians Steve Davis, on trombone, and Linda Ransom, on vocals, will perform with the Green Street Trio—with Paul Arslanian, George Kaye and Jon Fisher. Tickets are $40 per guest and are available at northamptonjazzfest.org.

Smulyan’s visit to JFK will come shortly after the conclusion of this year’s Northampton Jazz Festival, which returns Oct. 19 through Oct. 21 after a three-year hiatus. The festival is free—except for two of its events—and is open to the public. It has routinely drawn upwards of 5,000 individuals to see rich line-ups of jazz artists locally and from around the world since its inception in 2011. This year, it will be staged at a variety of indoor venues in downtown Northampton, with acts including the headliner Paquito D’Rivera Quintet, Sheryl Bailey and Don Braden among many others.

The main goal of the Jazz in the Schools program lies in exposing student musicians to the mentorship of jazz artists who are not only masters of their craft and experienced educators, but also inspirational working professionals. The program also aligns well with the Northampton Jazz Festival’s commitment to carrying forward the great American music tradition of live jazz for generations to come.

“Traditionally, this music was learned by listening and interacting with other players; being encouraged by audience reaction, interaction with other musicians on the bandstand, and trial and error,” said Paul Arslanian, producer and creative director of the Northampton Jazz Festival, who is also founder and coordinator of the weekly Northampton Jazz Workshop. “Hopefully this program will encourage that cycle to continue, and nurture a few more young innovators.”

Arslanian worked with Claire-anne Williams, music director at JFK who instructs the seventh and eighth grade jazz bands, to decide on an educational program that would significantly benefit her students.

“The students who participate in my jazz program are highly motivated students who are truly interested in learning,” Williams said. “They’ll be very excited to work with professional jazz musicians who can help them with their improvisational skills and jazz stylistic interpretation.”

Smulyan and Arslanian’s Green Street Trio will work with the seventh and eighth grade ensembles on Monday, Oct. 29, and then perform alongside the same students during a schoolwide assembly on Tuesday, Oct. 30. The students and parents will also be invited to that week’s Northampton Jazz Workshop for a concert with Smulyan and the Green Street Trio.

“What excites me and other jazz musicians is that this program is a vehicle for us to pass on our knowledge, experience and love of the music to another generation,” Arslanian said. “My hope is that a few of the most interested and determined students will go on to pursue careers in music and pass on the history, as well as their own take on the music.”

Jazz has been a popular course of study at JFK Middle School; since the jazz band’s inception 12 years ago, it has grown from a small group of 15 students to two separate bands totaling 50 students. The two bands have performed for parents, at local elementary schools and in the Massachusetts Association for Jazz Education Festival, where they received high scores from judges. Most recently, the school’s top group was an opener for the Jamie Kent Band at Northampton’s Academy of Music.

Jazz in the Schools provides a next step in giving JFK Middle School’s students an opportunity to improve their skills while connecting with the larger jazz community.

“The jazz band program has become an integral part of the JFK Middle School’s community and the Northampton community at large, and this collaboration will be a perfect way to move this program into the larger community in yet another direction,” Williams said. “Music is a very natural way to bring people together and enhance the overall community.”

Perhaps even more valuable than the opportunity for the students to improve their jazz skills, Williams and Arslanian agreed, is the opportunity to inspire in them an enduring passion for music.

“Our mission is to show how beautiful and fulfilling this music can be, and at the same time, make it accessible and understandable,” Arslanian said, noting that the students will be welcome additions to future Northampton Jazz Festival line-ups when they’re ready. “It just takes study and practice if you really want to play the music.”

Board members are actively raising funds to support the Northampton Jazz Festival and its programs. To make a donation, buy tickets or for more information, email info@northamptonjazzfest.org or visit www.northamptonjazzfest.org.  

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