By Isabelle Ruff | Intern
The Baylor Jazz Ensemble will perform a children’s jazz concert featuring music by Black artists at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. on Feb. 13 at Jones Concert Hall.
In honor of Black History Month, the band is partnering with local public elementary schools, inviting around 1,700 students in order to educate them about jazz musicians and their backgrounds.
“We celebrate the lives of five African American jazz artists: Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Ella Fitzgerald,” Alex Parker, director of jazz studies, said. “We perform their music as they would have performed it.”
Parker said he will invite at least one student at each concert to improvise with the band on stage. He will also lead students in singing the rhythm of Gillespie’s “Salt Peanuts” while the band plays the music.
“We talk about scat singing [non-lyrical vocal improv], so I’ll sing some things and have them sing back to me what scat singing is all about,” Parker said. “And then in between each song, we talk about the each artist — their history and what makes them important.”
Parker said the concert is meant not only for listening to music but also for experiencing the aspects of jazz that make it unique and learning about the founders of the genre.
“Slowly but surely, [jazz] evolved even in the last century into a whole bunch of different things,” Parker said. “An off-shoot of it helped to develop gospel music. An off-shoot of it helped to develop rock ‘n’ roll.”
Parker said learning about the founders of jazz includes not just the musical theories or patterns they created but the lyrics they wrote and the inspirations behind them.
“Its called America’s music because it is what we are,” Parker said. “It’s … a conglomeration of a whole bunch of cultures’ music that’s sort of put together to make what we call jazz. It is kind of like what we are as a society — a bunch of different cultures pushed together — but we’re all Americans.”
According to the School of Music, students are intended to be a part of an environment “of inclusivity, grounded in acceptance and civility, that respects differences and diversity, and values each person as an integral part of our campus community.”
Frisco junior Emily Doncer, a trumpet player in the band, said music is an important way to teach history.
“I think it’s more powerful to experience it than to just tell someone about the history of these African American artists, especially because music is such a powerful medium,” Doncer said. “It really helps us connect with the younger kids.”
Parker said the concert aims to introduce young people to the uniqueness of jazz music and the history of its founders, who inspired different genres with their creativity and experiences.
“I think it’s important to keep the music alive,” Parker said. “I think it’s important to understand some of the history of the music and the history especially of these performers.”
