The on-going jazz fable is the music is dying, and it has yet to reach a younger audience. Hopefully, eager enthusiasts will be able to kick six feet of dirt on this mindless concept after venturing into Minton’s to witness the collaboration with the Harlem School of the Arts Dec. 7.
Minton’s, the former jazz Mecca where bebop first percolated, and HSA have joined forces for a Sunday brunch series of specially themed concerts featuring outstanding young talent from HSA, curated and directed by HSA chair of Jazz and Contemporary Studies, D.D. Jackson.
The Dec. 7 date will feature the core HSA Jazz Quartet of young swingers. The quartet consists of Matthew Whitaker on piano and Hammond B3, Warner Meadows on piano, Gabrielle Garo on flute and alto saxophone and Dominique Gervais on drums, along with guest vocalist and HSA Prep student, We’Ani McDonald.
Under Jackson and a “jazz holiday” theme, the group will perform their own arrangements of songs of the holiday season, some original compositions developed in the composition class that Jackson teaches at HSA and some popular jazz standards. Performances are at 12 noon and 1:30 p.m.
These young musicians are already beaming on the jazz radar.
Whitaker, at age 13, became the youngest artist to be endorsed by Hammond Organ in its 81-year history. He has performed before the UN Youth Assembly at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, at the Apollo Theater and internationally in Vienne, France; Tetouan, Morocco; and Tokyo and Osaka, Japan. Whitaker attends the Lighthouse Music School for the Blind and Visually Impaired in New York City, where he studies classical piano and drums. He also attends HSA, where he studies jazz styles for the piano and is a member of the Advance Jazz Combo and of Jazz House Kids in Montclair, N.J., where he is part of the organ ensemble.
Garo is an HSA Prep student and attends LaGuardia High School. She received a full scholarship in 2014 to attend the Berklee Five Week Summer Performance Program at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Mass. She also won a solo award in the Jazz at Lincoln Center Essentially Ellington Regional Festival in Greenwich, Conn.
Warner is an HSA Prep student. He won the Berklee College of Music Judge’s Choice Award at the Berklee High School Jazz Festival. He was selected to attend the prestigious Eastman Jazz Summer Studies program, as well as Litchfield Jazz for students.
Gervais, a resident of Harlem, attends Winston Preparatory School and has attended numerous jazz camps, including the Berklee Five Week Summer Performance Program. Gervais studies jazz styles for drummers at HSA, under the direction of drummer/percussionist extraordinaire, Rudy Bird. He is a member of the Afro-American Legacy Youth Band, under the direction of legendary bassist Reggie Workman. He has performed with D.D. Jackson, Hamiet Bluiett, Arturo O”Farrill, Baba Don Eaton and Reggie Workman.
McDonald is a multi-talented singer, actress, dancer, songwriter and producer. She is currently an HSA Prep student and a member of HSA’s Dorothy Maynor Singers. She is the recipient of the Clive Davis Institute’s Future Music Moguls Merit Scholarship and was in the Lion King Jr. Production at HSA in the role of Older Nala. In the summer of 2014, she trained and performed with Paquito D’Rivera/Latin Jazz at Berklee College of Music.
“This student concert series creates a platform for young artists to experience the thrill of performing in a world-class venue for a savvy audience of jazz lovers,” says Julia E. Collins, vice president and COO of Harlem Jazz Enterprises/Minton’s and The Cecil.
Dr. Glory’s Youth Theatre and Riverside Church will present a free family musical and dramatic production “Don’t Call Me Outta My Name” at the Riverside Theatre, 91 Claremont Ave. at 120th Street, Dec. 7, at 2 p.m.
Fights have been started because, as the teenager stated, “She called me outta my name.” This production has somewhat of a twist. It’s about two homeless ladies taunted by children. Their positive response startles the youngsters, and gets them in touch with their humanity. As one says, “So, you think because I am, as you call me, a bag lady or homeless person, that I am nothing. Nothing is nothing! Everything is something, including nothing! What do you know about me? I have a name. So don’t call me outta my name.”
Behind the scenes, Dr. Glory Van Scott is a one-woman show as the playwright, director and choreographer who also wrote the music and lyrics. Poets whose works are featured in the play include Langston Hughes, Federico Garcia Lorca and Van Scott. To RSVP, call 212-870-6784.
