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Join Mark Ruffin of Sirius XM radio in a conversation with Black leadership from six university jazz studies programs as they discuss the importance of their roles and the past, present and future legacy of this distinctly American art form.
Panelists:
Jarrard Harris, Clinical Assistant Professor of Bands, Purdue University
A native of Louisville, Kentucky, saxophonist and educator Jarrard Harris attended the Youth Performing Arts School in high school and attended the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music to further his jazz studies. At CCM he studied with Rick VanMatre, Pat Harbison, and Marc Fields. Upon Graduation from CCM Harris moved to Chicago in 1998 to further his studies at DePaul University where under the tutelage of Bob Lark, Tim Coffman, and Marc Colby he earned his master’s degree in jazz studies. Harris currently lives in Chicago, where he is on the jazz faculty of Northwestern University, Columbia College Chicago and the City Colleges of Chicago. He also serves as the director of jazz studies with the Chicago Public Schools Advanced Arts Education Program at Gallery 37. He maintains an active private teaching studio in addition to adjudicating and performing at college and high school festivals, giving master classes, and lecturing, he has performed with musicians in the United States and abroad. Jarrard was a founding board member of the Jazz education Network and serves as a current board member for the Jazz Institute of Chicago.
Stefon Harris, Former Associate Dean, Manhattan School of Music
Heralded as "one of the most important artists in jazz" (The Los Angeles Times), he has been named a recipient of the 2018 Doris Duke Artist Awards. One of the most prestigious programs in the arts, “the Doris Duke Artist Awards invest in exemplary individual artists in contemporary dance, jazz, theater and related interdisciplinary work who have demonstrated their artistic vitality and commitment to their field.” He is also a recipient of the prestigious Martin E. Segal Award from Lincoln Center, has earned four GRAMMY™ nominations, and has been named Best Mallet player eight times by the Jazz Journalists Association. He was also chosen Best Vibes in the 2018 and 2017 DownBeat Magazine Critic's Poll, the 2016 JazzTimes Expanded Critics Poll, the 2014 JazzTimes Critics Poll and the 2013 DownBeat Magazine Critics Poll.
Stefon Harris received his Bachelor of Music degree in classical music and Master of Music degree in jazz performance at Manhattan School of Music (MSM). He teaches in person at universities throughout the world and virtually via his Distance Learning Studio, has led curriculum development at the Brubeck Institute, and serves as Jazz Advisor for Jazz Education at New Jersey Performing Arts Center. Prior to being named Associate Dean and Director of Jazz Arts at MSM in July 2017, Mr. Harris was Visiting Professor at Rutgers University and served on the jazz faculty of New York University for the past decade. "The Art of Listening," part of a series of documentaries focusing on Harris' community work in arts education in Kalamazoo, won 3 Gold Camera awards and 3 Michigan EMMY nominations.
Dr. Joseph Jefferson, Director of Jazz Studies and Assistant Professor of Trombone/Euphonium, Southeast Missouri State University
Dr. Joseph L. Jefferson is the Asst. Professor of Trombone/Euphonium and Director of Jazz Studies at Southeast Missouri State University. As a soloist, chamber musician, educator, and adjudicator, Joseph maintains an active schedule in Classical, Jazz, and commercial musical settings. Dr. Jefferson has been a guest artist and presenter at the International Trombone Festival, International Horn Symposium, Reno Jazz Festival, Texas A & M - Kingsville Trombone Day, University of Evansville Brass & Percussion Day, Mt. Hood Jazz Festival, Mineral Area College Jazz Festival, and Three Rivers College. As a performer, Dr. Jefferson has shared the stage with a variety of groups and artists such as The Colour of Music Orchestra, The Irish Tenors, The Cab Calloway Orchestra, Zoltan Kiss (Mnozil Brass), Sean Jones, Randy Brecker, and international R&B artists Dwele and Raheem Devaughn among others. Internationally, Dr. Jefferson has had performing and teaching residencies in Bermuda and Asia at the College of Music, Mahidol University in Thailand.
Dr. Jefferson has earned degrees from Norfolk State (B.M), Shenandoah Conservatory (M.M.), and West Virginia University (D.M.A.) under the tutelage of esteemed faculty; including, Dr. Keith Jackson, Dr. Wayne Wells, Dr. Mike Hall, and Mr. Paul Adams. He has also studied with Joseph Alessi, Amanda Stewart, Andre Hayward, Dr. Natalie Mannix, Vincent Gardner, David Vining, and Donna Parkes. Joseph is an S.E. Shires and Giddings Mouthpieces Performing Artist.
Nicole M. Mitchell, Director of Jazz Studies and Director of Creative Arts Ensemble, University of Pittsburgh
Nicole is an award-winning creative flutist, composer, bandleader and educator. She is perhaps best known for her work as a flutist, having developed a unique improvisational language and having been repeatedly awarded “Top Flutist of the Year” by Downbeat Magazine Critics Poll and the Jazz Journalists Association (2010-2017). Mitchell initially emerged from Chicago’s innovative music scene in the late 90s, and her music celebrates contemporary African American culture. She is the founder of Black Earth Ensemble, Black Earth Strings, Sonic Projections and Ice Crystal, and she composes for contemporary ensembles of varied instrumentation and size, while incorporating improvisation and a wide aesthetic expression. The former first woman president of Chicago’s Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, Mitchell celebrates endless possibility by “creating visionary worlds through music that bridge the familiar with the unknown.” Some of her newest work with Black Earth Ensemble explores intercultural collaborations; Bamako*Chicago, featuring Malian kora master, Ballake Sissoko, made its American debut at Chicago’s Hyde Park Jazz Festival in September 2017, and Mandorla Awakening with Kojiro Umezaki (shakuhachi) and Tatsu Aoki (taiko, bass, shamisen), was just recently released on FPE records (Chicago) last spring. Recently she celebrated a compositional premiere with Procession Time, a suite inspired by the work of Harlem Renaissance artist Norman Lewis, that was performed by the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players and conducted by Steve Schick in October 2017. Mitchell has also recently been interested in multidisciplinary work, through the incorporation of original video art with her music (Mandorla Awakening I and II, Interdimensional Interplay for Solo Disklavier and Prerecorded Flute). In January 2018, Mitchell was recently the Artist in Residence at New York’s Winter Jazz Fest, where she performed four suites of her compositions, including Art and Anthem (for poet Gwendolyn Brooks), Maroon Cloud (inspired by her writing “What Was Feared Lost” from Arcana VIII edited by John Zorn), Pteradatyl, a new trio with vocalist Sara Serpa and Liberty Ellman, and her latest Afrofuturist suite, Mandorla Awakening, which was cited as a top jazz recording in the New York Times and the LA Times for 2017. As a composer, Mitchell has been commissioned by the French Ministry of Culture, the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art, Art Institute of Chicago, the Stone, the French American Jazz Exchange, Chamber Music America (New Works), the Chicago Jazz Festival, ICE, and the Chicago Sinfonietta. Mitchell has performed with creative music luminaries including Craig Taborn, Roscoe Mitchell, Joelle Leandre, Anthony Braxton, Geri Allen, George Lewis, Mark Dresser, Steve Coleman, Anthony Davis, Myra Melford, Bill Dixon, Muhal Richard Abrams, Ed Wilkerson, Rob Mazurek, and Billy Childs, and Hamid Drake. She is a recipient of the Herb Alpert Award (2011), the Chicago 3Arts Award (2011) and the Doris Duke Artist Award (2012). Mitchell was a Professor of Music at University of California, Irvine, teaching composition and improvisation in the graduate program of Integrated Composition, Improvisation and Technology for several years. Now, she is the new director of jazz studies in the University of Pittsburgh's Deitrich School.
Dr. Damani Phillips, Director of Studies & Associate Professor of African American Studies, University of Iowa
Dr. Damani Philips is a native of Pontiac, MI, and currently serves as jazz studies are head and associate professor of African-American Studies at the University of Iowa. Phillips has earned Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from DePaul University and The University of Kentucky in classical saxophone, a second Master of Music degree in Jazz Studies from Wayne State University and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Jazz Studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder; becoming one of the first African Americans in the country to do so. An active performer, pedagogue and lecturer, Phillips has taught and performed throughout the world. He has previously served on the faculty of Grinnell College and Oakland University, and is actively sought as a guest artist, clinician, presenter and adjudicator throughout the nation. He has performed with artists/groups such as Lewis Nash, Christian McBride, Wycliffe Gordon, Bobby McFerrin, Marcus Belgrave, Terrell Stafford, Hank Jones, Red Holloway and Pat Bianchi among many others. He has released 5 albums as a leader, and published his first book “What Is This Thing Called Soul: Conversations on Black Culture and Jazz Education” in 2017.
Reginald Thomas, Coordinator of Jazz Studies, Northern Illinois University School of Music
Reginald "Reggie" Thomas is Coordinator of the internationally recognized Northern Illinois University School of Music's Jazz Studies program. He is the director of the acclaimed NIU Jazz Orchestra (formerly known as the NIU Jazz Ensemble under esteemed Prof Ronald Carter), which has been featured at venues such as the Chicago Jazz Festival. Thomas came to NIU from the Michigan State University College of Music, where he served as Professor of Jazz Piano. Prior to his position at MSU, he was Professor of Music at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and was SIUE's Director of Black Studies. Reggie has performed at festivals around the world – St. Louis Jazz Festival in Senegal, West Africa; The Montreal International Jazz Festival; and The Java Jazz Festival in Jakarta, Indonesia. After leaving the St Louis area, he also spent 3 years as pianist for the Legendary Count Basie Orchestra with whom he performed at a festival before the King of Thailand. Thomas has performed abroad in Brisbane, Calgary, London, Milan, Montreal, Poznan, Senegal, Sydney, Toronto, Trinidad and Warsaw. He has also performed across the US in cities including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle.
As a recording artist Thomas has appeared as a leader or co-leader on four recordings. The most recent, Matters of the Heart (with wife Mardra), was released March 2015 and follows previous recordings Fade to Blue (MaxJazz), Standard Time (Victoria) and 4 (Jazz Compass). Recordings as a sideman include Clay Jenkins’ Yellow Flowers After (Chase Music Group) and Azure Eyes (Chase Music Group), Kim Richmond’s Ballads (Chase Music Group) and Inner Spirit (Jazz Compass), Clark Terry/Mike Vax’ Creepin’ With Clark (Summit) and the MSU Professors of Jazz Better Than Alright.
Mark Ruffin, Moderator
In 2020 Mark Ruffin celebrated his 40th year in broadcasting and journalism.
Since 2007, the double Emmy winner and Grammy nominee has been the program director of the Real Jazz channel on Sirius/XM Satellite Radio. Before that he spent over 25 years as a fixture in jazz broadcasting and journalism in Chicago including winning two Emmy Awards for his efforts in bringing stories about jazz to television on WTTW-TV/Chicago
Mr. Ruffin worked for over 25 years as Jazz Editor for Chicago Magazine and has written hundreds of articles on jazz, broadcasting and African-American culture. His articles have appeared in a variety of local and national publications, including the Chicago Sun-Times, Down Beat, Jazziz, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Playboy, N’digo, Ebony and dozens of other publications.
He has produced radio for Oprah Winfrey, Gayle King, Ramsey Lewis, Marcus Miller, Steppenwolf Theatre, Christian McBride and many more.
He shared a Grammy nomination with Rene Marie and has produced music for other artists as well including George Freeman, Charenee Wade, Giacomo Gates, Lauren Henderson, and others.
He is winner of both the Jazz Journalists Association Career Excellence in Broadcasting Award and the Duke Dubois Humanitarian Award from Jazzweek.com. In 2019 he was honored by Jazzmobile with their NYC Jazz Readers Award.
In 2020, author was added to Mr. Ruffin resume with the release of his first book, Bebop Fairy Tales: A Historical Fiction Trilogy on Jazz, Intolerance and Baseball. The book won two Feathered Quill Book Awards and is a 2021 Jazz Journalists Association Book of the Year nominee.