DownBeat July 9, 1970 [antikvár]

education in jazz -by Willis Conover If it isn't completely free, it's totalitarian, says one extreme. If it isn't completely disciplined it's anarchy, says the other extreme. While the formalists have been battling with the rigid, other young men and women have sought and found the frec' dom of self-dis-cipline. They don't ignore or destroy tradi-Willis Conover tion they develop and improve it — as true artists always have done and always will do. Students are creating new music and rc-creating traditional music in more than 450 American colleges and universities and more than 15,000 high schools. In large ensembles, that is ; the combos haven't been counted. The Berklee College of Music offers the complete American musical experience. If there's a new music tomorrow, today's students will make it. For those who cannot attend Berklee at this time . . • a special CORRESPONDENCE COURSE includes: • Modern Harmony • Improvisation • Dance Band Arranging • Jazz Composition, etc. For information write: BerkI school of music Dept. D 1140 BOYLSTON STREET BOSTON, MASS. 02215 HCiSTW By CHARLES SUBER THF. JAZZ STUDCNTS at the University of Utah at Salt Lake City recently scored an impressive victory for themselves and for honest music education everywhere. They were able to convince their school admin-islraiion to reverse a decision to emascul-late the Jazz Major program inaugurated last fall. The whole hassle carries implications for schools in other places. The agitation for a jazz curriculum at the University of Utah was begun by Dr. William Fowler, a full professor of music at the University and a classical and jazz guitarist of some note, when he invited the Summer Jazz Clinics to the University in the summer of 1965. A stage band for credit was begun and last year, under Noel Hepworth, it won the Inter-Mountain College Jazz Festival. Fowler made good use of the momentum and was able to convince the administration in early 1969 to add enough jazz courses (arranging, improvisation, lab ensembles) to qualify a Jazz Major. A key argument for adoption of a jazz major was Fowler's concept of an "outside" faculty, jazz professionals who would teach their specialty for a week at a time within a programmed curriculum. As it turned out, this extension of the jazz clinic idea was to be the strongest element in the program. Good, communicative jazz per-former-teachers such as Gerald Wilson, Marian McPartland, Johnny Smith, Billy Byers, and Neal Hefti not only provided the students with necessary techniques but with standards against which to measure their own growth and ambitions. The program was an instant success. Enrollment in music department courses, particularly in general music, private practice, and music majors, jumped 40-60%. So, if everything was going so well, why did the administration want to kill the program? If you put all the reasons together, you get Fear and Variations. The Dean of the School of Fine Arts felt threatened by the publicity and the scent of freedom he sniffed in the corridors of the music department. The president of the University was loath to countermand his dean, and besides there were the trustees and the community to consider, whose support of music seemed to be more vocal than instrumental. So when the administration announced—just before final exams in June—that the budget allocation for the jazz major was to be reduced to $10,000—the same as announcing its epitaph—the only visible jazzites were Dr. Newell Weight, the chairman of the music department, who knew first hand the benefits of the jazz major; Fowler, whose gut response was to fight; and, of course, the students enrolled in the jazz program. The students made the difference. They camc together immediately after the word came to them (from Fowler), insisted on, and got, an audience with an assistant to the president with all parties present, including the dean. According to Weight "the students were most persuasive. They were listened to—this University is determined to listen to students—and it was agreed that necessary funds will be found to continue the iazz major". And if you sense a relevant parallel between the birth of a Jazz Major and the 70th birthday of Louis Armstrong, t^ fine, just fine. 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