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News from the Chicago Jazz Ensemble

The Chicago Jazz Ensemble (CJE), with a grant and support from the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation and the Polk Bros. Foundation, presents the 2008 Louis Armstrong Legacy Program and Celebration (LALPC), which includes a Master Class with CJE Artistic Director Jon Faddis and members of the CJE on Tuesday, May 20, from 9:00 am – 3:30 pm at the Concert Hall of the Music Center at Columbia College Chicago, 1014 South Michigan Avenue.

Faddis and the Chicago Jazz Ensemble designed this new program to introduce and extend the musical legacy of the legendary trumpeter Louis Armstrong.

Students from nine area schools in the Chicago Public School system were among the first to participate in this exciting and historic opportunity. Participating schools and directors include: Kevin Korschgen, Harlan Community Academy High School; James Martin, Charles P. Caldwell Elementary School; Larry Polk, Simeon Career Academy High School; Diane Ellis, Arthur Dixon Elementary School; Carolyn Washington, Paul Robeson High School; Shemeka Nash, Morgan Park High School; Dennis Trainor, Hancock High School; Barbara Kent, Augustus H. Burley Elementary School; and Allen Kern, Percy L. Julian High School.

The LALPC schedule, which is open to the public, features:

* 9:00 – 11 am: School Performances and Clinics
* 11:15 am: Jon Faddis Presentation on Louis Armstrong with Phoebe Jacobs, Vice-President of the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation, and Jackie Harris, Executive Director of the Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong Summer Jazz Camp in New Orleans
* 12:00 pm: Lunch Break
* 1:00 – 3:00 pm: School Performances and Clinics
* 3:00 – 3:30 pm: Award Presentations

The LALPC provided materials and resources, including transcriptions of Armstrong's music by Jon Faddis; Jazz Pedagogy manual by J. Richard Dunscomb of Columbia College Chicago and Dr. Willie Hill of University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Armstrong's "Portrait of a Young Artist" CD collection; Louis Armstrong Education Book; and a Day Pass to the 2008 Midwest Band Clinic. In addition, participants received admission to Chicago Jazz Ensemble rehearsals and concerts plus instruction from CJE mentors, and will receive a DVD of the group's performance and a program certificate. Students will have the opportunity to earn a $5, 000 Open Doors Scholarship to Columbia College and teachers can receive CPDU credits.

CJE mentors visited schools weekly to rehearse the school's ensemble, give directors a private lesson at each visit and prepare a schedule to meet each group's needs. Each school will perform before a public audience on May 20 and will be evaluated by experts in the field.

CJE mentors for this program include: trombonists Tracy Kirk, Andy Baker and Audrey Morrison; trumpeter Pharez Whitted, alto saxophonist Jarrard Harris; and tenor saxophonists Pat Mallinger and Rob Denty.

The four partners in the LALPC are the Chicago Public Schools, represented by the Director of Arts Education, David Roche, and Instrumental Music Supervisor, William McClellan; the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation, represented by Phoebe Jacobs and Jackie Harris; and Columbia College Chicago and the Chicago Jazz Ensemble (in residence at Columbia College Chicago since 1965), represented by Faddis, the CJE's Executive Director, Richard Dunscomb, and Education Director, Scott Hall.

For more information, visit www.chicagojazzensemble.com.



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