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Jazz On Campus
Manhattan School
of Music Devotes
Weekend to Mingus
New York’s Manhattan School of Music
took on Charles Mingus’ imposing legend for
a symposium in February. The college’s programs
to honor the bassist will only get bigger
in the future.
Sue Mingus and Justin DiCioccio, the
Manhattan School’s chair of the jazz arts
program, envision a yearly Charles Mingus
summit. Its Feb. 20–22 inaugural event
included hosting jazz combos and big bands
from across the Northeast. The school plans
for national participation beginning next
year. The first summit also included a
keynote address by composer Gunther
Schuller, panel discussions, and performances
by the Manhattan School’s Charles
Mingus Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Orchestra,
and the Mingus Dynasty Band. The first
Charles Mingus High School Jazz Band
Competition offered prizes for bands,
arrangements and soloists.
Though widely recognized as one of the
most important figures in jazz, Mingus has
only recently been embraced by the jazz
community at large. This symposium was a
long time coming, according to Sue Mingus.
“There was a perception of Charles’ music
being difficult,” Sue Mingus said. “He had such
a powerful personality. He knew first and foremost
he was a composer, even though he was a
virtuoso bassist and bandleader. He knew that
his music would live on.
“The music is open, there’s a lot of risk taking,”
she continued. “That is what keeps the
music so modern, because musicians need to
bring their own voices. Charles wouldn’t have
wanted the music to be repeated in stone.”
Two young musicians who have embraced
Mingus’ music include bassist Matt Dwonszyk,
18, and tenor saxophonist Nick Lippa, 17. Both
brought fervor and skill to the Manhattan
School of Music stage. Dwonszyk’s Greater
Hartford (Connecticut) Academy of the Arts
Jazz Ensemble 3, directed by Kris Allen and
Jimmy Greene, performed “Duke Ellington’s
Sound Of Love,” “Pithecanthropus Erectus” and
“O.P.” Lippa’s 29-member Gates Chili High
School Jazz Ensemble (of Rochester, N.Y.,
directed by Christopher Oldfield) also performed
“Sound Of Love,” and tackled
“Moanin’” and “Nostalgia In Times Square.”
“We didn’t use charts, so there was a lot to
remember,” Dwonszyk said. “The Mingus band
never had charts, they did it all from memory.
The songs weren’t easy, like ‘Duke Ellington’s
Sound Of Love,’ which has some hard chord
Sue Mingus and Justin DiCioccio
changes. And Mingus was one of the most innovative
bass players. He is my idol.”
Lippa was so enthralled during his solo at the
end of “Nostalgia In Times Square” that he
jumped up and ran around in circles, blowing all
the while.
“When I listen to Mingus I feel it going
right through my body,” Lippa said. “So we
had to look alive. It was about capturing his
spirit. If we’re feeling his music like this then
the audience will feel it too. It just takes you.
That was the first time I had ever done something
like that.”
DiCioccio wasn’t surprised at the high level
of combo and big band performance.
“The level of playing today is astonishing,”
DiCioccio said. “A few years back they were
good, but they didn’t understand the depth of the
music. Now, they’re understanding. The teaching
is getting better and the importance of listening
to the masters is hitting home. The level of
improvisation, time feel, swing and groove—it’s
unheard of in American society.”
Sue Mingus added that the students at the
symposium would have impressed a particularly
sharp critic.
“I always tell the musicians who play his
music that Charles would have fired everyone,”
she said. “But he would have been
delighted to hear these young musicians performing
his music.” —Ken Micallef
BRIAN HATTON
School Notes
Jazzschool Studio Band A
Jazzschool Win: The Berkeley,
Calif.-based Jazzschool’s Studio Bands
A and B, both under Keith Johnson’s
direction, took first and third place
respectively in the conglomerate
big band division on April 5 at the Next
Generation Festival in Monterey, Calif.
The American Music Program of Portland,
Ore., under Thara Memory’s direction,
took second place in that category.
Details: montereyjazzfestival.org
Enterprising Coursework: The
Academy of Contemporary Music at the
University of Central Oklahoma in
Edmond will open in August. It will be
geared toward students who want to work
in music production. The school will offer
associates of applied science degrees in
guitar, bass, drums and vocal performance,
as well as production. Expanded
courses of study and a four-year degree
program will be offered beginning in 2011.
Details: acm-uco.com
UNT Musical Chairs: The University of
North Texas in Denton has named John
Murphy chair of its jazz division, Steve
Wiest director of the One O’Clock Lab
Band and Tim Brent director of vocal jazz.
Details: unt.edu
Moody Winner: Pianist Andrew Latham
has received this year’s James Moody
Scholarship. Latham is a jazz studies
major at Purchase College in New York.
Details: purchase.edu
Crimson Beats: Roy Haynes was honored
as jazz master in residence at Harvard
from April 15–19. Haynes attended
rehearsals with students, appeared at an
onstage interview and was the subject of a
Harvard Jazz Band tribute concert.
Details: harvard.edu
CRAIG LOVELL
110 DOWNBEAT June 2009