Jazz at Centrum

Centrum at IAJE in Toronto

I recently returned from the International Association for Jazz Education annual conference, which was held in Toronto this year.  It’s the most important and best-attended conference in the jazz world.  Over 6,000 people attended, and Centrum had a booth representing the Jazz Port Townsend.  As always, there were many outstanding performances by top musicians, and as always I was pleased and proud to note that many of them are or have been on our faculty!  These included Carl Allen, Chuck Deardorf, Paquito D’Rivera, Dee Daniels, Kurt Elling, Ingrid Jensen, Kristin Korb, Bill Mays, Kim Nazarian, Sachal Vasandani, Jon Wikan and Matt Wilson.  Jovino Santos Neto and Mark Ivester have also taught at Centrum in a weekend Brazilian music workshop and were there as well.  It was fun to watch people walking by the Centrum booth doing double and triple takes when they saw the list of this summer’s faculty, and to answer their enthusiastic questions.

 

Besides hearing lots of great music, it’s inspiring to hear some of the best student players coming up these days.  Their talent and enthusiasm run deep.  Those of you who have attended the past two years know that we’ve made a special commitment to provide scholarships to talented young people of color.  It was especially valuable for me to hear a number of excellent candidates, and I’ll be contacting them to encourage them to apply.

All in all it was great to be there, and definitely worth the trip.  I hope you’re all planning to apply and attend our workshop this summer July 20-27.  Stay in touch!

Registration Opens for 2008 Workshops

Registration has opened for Centrum's 2008 workshops. Follow the links in the top right column to learn more, or bookmark http://www.centrum.org/admin/register.html, which is our new launch page for registrations.

New in 2008, we've upgraded the software we use to handle registrations, which will give you more information, more quickly than ever before. As always, your feedback will help us improve how we serve you.

New Food
Also new in 2008, we are excited to announce a new food partner at Fort Worden. Bon Appétit Management Company is bringing their passion for great food inspired by a deep commitment to sustainability and locally grown and produced fare. They share our own belief that food serves a much larger purpose for the community. Breaking bread together helps create a sense of community and comfort. We can't wait for you to come to Fort Worden to experience a new era in excellent cuisine. Learn more at http://www.cafebonappetit.com/fortworden/.

We look forward to seeing you at Fort Worden in 2008.

Joe Locke Centrum Performance Wins Earshot Award

Charismatic vibraphonist Joe Locke's July 28, 2007 afternoon performance has been named 2007 Northwest Concert of the Year by Earshot Jazz magazine. The announcement came Sunday night, January 20.

The voting was done by Earshot readers, and honored a standing-room-only show in which Locke was accompanied by Bruce Forman (guitar), Chuck Deardorf (bass), and Jon Wikan (drums).   

Trumpter Thomas Marriott, who also sat in during the set, took the Earshot awards for both Northwest Recording of the Year (for Both Sides of the Fence) and Northwest Instrumentalist of the Year.