In celebration of Jazz Appreciation Month, San Jose Jazz and the Tech Museum are teaming up to create an enriching series of 4 free lectures for fellow music enthusiasts.
Music and Technology: the Intersection and the Impact
In recent decades, technology has had a considerable impact on music, opening the way for new sounds and genres. Technology nurtures music's evolution; music fosters technical breakthroughs in return. Roger Linn and Dave Smith, two pioneers in this field, will give you an insider's look at this evolution.
Roger Linn -- Composer and guitarist Roger Linn is perhaps best known as the inventor of the LM-1 Drum Computer, the world's first programmable sampled-sound drum machine, in 1979. The LM-1 and Roger's later inventions -- including his guitar effects product, AdrenaLinn -- have been used on recordings by everyone from Madonna and Peter Gabriel to John Mayer and Green Day.
Dave Smith -- In 1977, Dave Smith designed the Prophet-5, the world's first polyphonic and programmable synth. Since then, he has worked on innovative products for Yamaha, Korg, and Seer Systems, including the first commercially-available, software-based synthesizer to run on a PC. Dave also coined the acronym MIDI, which stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface.
Tuesday April 7, 2009, 7pm to 8pm At the Tech Museum
Listen here:
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Listening to Jazz: How Music is selected for the AT&T San Jose Jazz Festival
Come get an insider's look on how the Festival chooses its featured artists. Speakers will be none other than Geoff Roach, the Executive and Artistic Director of San Jose Jazz, and Bruce Labadie, the Executive Producer of the San Jose Jazz Festival.
Geoff Roach -- Geoff Roach is Executive and Artistic Director of San Jose Jazz, overseeing all of the organization's artistic and educational programming. His professional background includes 30 years in marketing, sales, and management in the high tech industry. In addition, he is an accomplished jazz musician and producer with multiple CDs in release.
Bruce Labadie -- Bruce co-founded the San Jose Jazz Festival in 1989 and is the only producer the Festival has ever known. His love of the arts -- combined with his meticulous attention to detail and admiration for the audiences he serves -- makes Bruce one of the best in the business. He is also producing director for the San Jose International Mariachi Festival and for Jazz on the Plazz in Los Gatos, CA.
Tuesday April 14, 2009, 7pm to 8pm At the Tech Museum
Listen here:
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Jazz Outside the United States
It is a known fact that jazz originated in the US and then spread around the globe. Today, there is a rich "conversation" between jazz in the US and jazz from the rest of the world, with each influencing the other. Panelists for this session -- Dennis Broughton, Paul van Wageningen, and John Worley -- will share their views and experience of jazz in Brazil, the Netherlands, Japan, and elsewhere around the world.
Dennis Broughton -- A professional musician and a seasoned production manager, Dennis has worked in arts and events management for over 25 years, currently serving as Production Manager for the San Jose Jazz Festival. In addition, he is a Brazilian percussionist and music teacher, and he has performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival and more. Dennis holds a degree in Ethnomusicology from UCSC.
Paul van Wageningen -- Born in Amsterdam, Paul moved to New York in 1976 to be closer to the American Jazz scene. Since his relocation to the Bay Area in the late '70s, he has gained recognition as one of the premier artists in the area of multicultural drumming, receiving three Grammy nominations. Paul has performed both in the U.S. and abroad with many of the top global-beat jazz groups.
John Worley -- Trumpet and flugelhorn artist John Worley has been part of many creative Bay Area ensembles for last 20+ years. Adept at a multitude of styles, he has played with international artists in Canada, Europe, Central and North America. John's performance credits include the Asian American Jazz Orchestra, San Jose Taiko, and many others. His current group, WorlView, made its debut in 2004.
Tuesday April 21, 2009, 7pm to 8pm At the Tech Museum
Listen here:
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How did you take that picture? Insight from the photographers
For the final presentation in our Jazz Appreciation Month lecture series, two Bay Area jazz photographers, Andy Nozaka and Walter Wagner, will talk about their love of music and discuss the way they express that passion through photography. Listening to these veteran photographers of the jazz world will provide a deeper understanding of the photographer's vision. They will also be sharing some behind-the-scenes stories of great moments in jazz.
Andy Nozaka -- Andy Nozaka is a self-taught photographer who has practiced his art for over 40 years. His passion for both jazz and photography started during high school, and his first jazz photographs were taken in 1963 at a civil rights fundraiser featuring Dizzy Gillespie. Andy's work has appeared in many periodicals, and his vision is still driven by his need to express and share his feeling for the jazz spirit.
Walter Wagner -- Walter Wagner's life-long love of blues and jazz began in 1944; his interest in photography in 1952. The two came together in 1961 and have since become a way of expressing his love of music and the people who make it. His photographs have appeared in local and international publications and have been exhibited throughout the Bay Area (currently at Lush Life Gallery in San Francisco).
Tuesday April 28, 7pm to 8pm At the Tech Museum
Listen here:
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See also our "Born in April" mini-bios of jazz artists
Be sure to check our Jazz Blog often throughout April. Every day in April, we post a mini-biography of a notable jazz artist born on that date. Visit our blog
About Jazz Appreciation Month
This is an effort, led by the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History, to draw greater public attention to the extraordinary heritage and history of jazz and its importance as an American cultural heritage. In addition, JAM is intended to stimulate the current jazz scene and encourage people of all ages to participate in jazz—to study the music, attend concerts, listen to jazz on radio and recordings, read books about jazz, and support institutional jazz programs.
Geoff
