by Mark McGowan
Two members of the famed NIU Liberace Jazztet will travel next week to Washington, D.C., to participate in the 2009 Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead Residency Program at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Guitarist Larry Brown and drummer Clif Wallace, both of whom are graduate students in the NIU School of Music’s jazz studies program, will enjoy two weeks of daily workshops and rehearsals with established jazz artists.
Program organizers identify outstanding and emerging jazz artists in their mid-teens and 20s and bring them together under the tutelage of experienced artist-instructors who coach and counsel them, helping to polish their performance, composing and arranging skills.
“Jazz Ahead” culminates in three concerts on the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage set for live broadcast over the Internet.
“I am truly proud of both of these talented young men,” said Ron Carter, director of jazz studies at NIU, “and excited about the notoriety this prestigious selection brings to NIU.”
Brown is a third-generation guitarist, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. The graduate of Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville picked up the instrument 22 years ago at the tender age of 4.
“I grew up listening to all types of music, but I didn’t start playing jazz until I got to college. As a kid, I always liked it but I never got into playing it,” said Brown, a native of Venice, Ill., about five minutes from Gateway Arch in St. Louis. “It sounded hard, and I liked the way it sounded. It was different. I like the way it makes me feel when I play it.”
The guitarist for the legendary NIU Jazz Ensemble hopes his Washington, D.C., experience will connect “musically and socially” with musicians from around the world.
Scheduled to graduate this May, he hopes to perform and tour professionally for a while and then teach. Brown already gives private lessons through NIU’s Community School of the Arts and is co-director of the All-University Jazz Band.
“It’s great to be recognized, but I’m taking it all in stride. I’m just look forward to playing. Playing is what I love to do, by whatever means I can do it,” he said. “I just want to get to know some people who are playing the music I love and sharing that musical experience.”
Wallace, a native of Fort Wayne, Ind., began drumming about 15 years ago. After earning his bachelor’s degree at North Carolina Central University, he came to NIU for the “opportunity to be around Ron Carter.”
“Jazz is the American music. I like that,” Wallace said. “I play all styles of music, but playing jazz has really opened me up to listening to everything else.”
Like Brown, he teaches private lessons through the Community School and leads a jazz combo in the School of Music.
Similarly, Wallace also is eager for the networking avenues paved at “Jazz Ahead.” He already knows a handful of musicians who gig in and around the nation’s capitol, where he played professionally before coming to NIU. He also has family there.
“This program is going to be good. I have a couple friends who’ve made it before, and they’ve told me good things about it,” said Wallace, who will complete his master’s in jazz performance in 2010. “You’re dealing with professional musicians who play more often. The people who run this program are always out there on the scene. These people get to hear you.
Brown and Wallace’s two-week residency will include:
For more information, visit www.kennedy-center.org/programs/jazz/jazzahead.