Educators, musicians meet to trumpet the future of jazz

NEW YORK — "Money," exclaimed Dana Gioia, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, "you don't know where it's been, but you put it where your mouth is. And it talks."

Gioia's comic poem was accompanied by the rhythms of jazz drummer Chico Hamilton as part of the 37th annual conference of the International Association of Jazz Educators, which attracts more than 7,000 teachers, musicians, critics, record company executives, broadcasters and anyone else remotely associated with jazz.

Gioia was here to announce the release of "Jazz: An American Story," a high-school curriculum jump-started by a $100,000 grant from the Verizon Foundation. He also facilitated NEA's 2006 Jazz Masters Awards and the winners' appearance on "Legends of Jazz," a series which begins on public television in April. Veterans might have been asking themselves if they had walked into the wrong conference. Historically, IAJE has been a whining post for an industry feeling overlooked, underfunded and disrespected.

This year, cash and cachet flew, much like the lively solos that spilled from Seattle musicians honored by invitations: the Monday Night Band and Vocal Ensemble "Celebration" (both from Bellevue Community College), the Roosevelt High School Jazz Band and pianist Dawn Clement.

Even record company execs were happy, an occasion almost as rare as the mild January weather — 55 and sunny — that blessed this Manhattan gathering.

"The future is bright," said Pat Rustici, general manager of Palmetto Records, an indie label with a roster including the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra.

"Jazz is back," declared pianist Ramsey Lewis in the cavernous midtown Sony television studios, as he hosted Tony Bennett, pianist Chick Corea and percussionist Ray Barretto for the last segment of "Legends of Jazz." (The other 2006 recipients are composer- arranger Bob Brookmeyer, clarinetist Buddy DeFranco, trumpeter Freddie Hubbard and booking agent and bassist John Levy.)

Of course, jazzers weren't kidding themselves. Record sales for the music long ago dipped below 3 percent of the industry total, and no comprehensive national jazz touring circuit exists.

But folks were nevertheless upbeat about the future. Jazz Alliance International, an industry association, announced a plan for regaining market share and Concord Records, owned by Norman Lear, piled indie label Telarc onto last year's acquisition of the jazz conglomerate Fantasy. Somebody must think this music is worth investing in.

A panel featuring bassist John Clayton, artistic director of Jazz Port Townsend, also showed a new faith in hiring artists to curate performance programs, perhaps on the model of trumpeter Wynton Marsalis' success with Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Clayton, trumpeter Dave Douglas (Festival of New Trumpet Music) and bassist Christian McBride (the Los Angeles Philharmonic) were talking five- and six-figure budgets.

"Money breeds money," continued Gioia's poem, as Hamilton, a 2004 NEA Jazz Master, caressed the snare drum.

At long last, jazz may be coming into, as the chairman put it, "the long green."

Paul de Barros: 206-464-3247 or pdebarros@seattletimes.com