Chord Changes on the Chalkboard by Al Kennedy

Author:Al Kennedy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Published: 2003-07-14T16:00:00+00:00

Finding Acceptance for Jazz

Finding money to bring jazz musicians into the public schools was a struggle, but Trusty found it even more difficult to get the musicians and their music accepted. In the minds of some older principals and band directors, jazz still was considered too closely connected to bars and brothels. Many principals simply said “no.” The feeling that jazz was not appropriate for schoolchildren extended well beyond the public schools. Well into the 1960s, clarinetist Alvin Batiste, the assistant director of bands at Southern University, had to struggle to overcome many obstacles to start the Southern University Jazz Institute. Clyde Kerr Jr., who would later replace Ellis Marsalis as jazz instructor at NOCCA, recalled his own difficulties in the 1960s trying to play jazz at Xavier University, which enjoyed an international reputation for its music programs. Whenever he went into the practice room and strayed from his assigned music “to pick out a few jazz licks,” someone usually knocked on the door: “Oh, no, none of that in here. This is for strictly legit music.”22

Despite a few principals who did not want the program at their schools, Trusty’s jazz program was given a warm reception by many others. In fact, the demand for the program grew. Although schools accepted the jazz program “with open arms or not at all,” Trusty felt she had made inroads into having the music understood “as significant.”23

Through it all, Friedrich, director of curriculum and Trusty’s supervisor, supported her without reservation or hesitation. Although he loved ballet, theater, and classical music, he encouraged her in her efforts to bring jazz into the schools. He created an environment that allowed her to “think in these crazy ways,” and he was willing to break the rules “if there was a valid reason for it.” A typical example of his support came when Trusty was making arrangements for the Dance Theater of Harlem to visit the schools in 1972. Trusty signed the contract only to learn that a local university that had pledged money for the visit suddenly backed out. The Office of Cultural Resources was legally responsible for paying the dance company. After he heard the story, Friedrich took Trusty aside and told her, “We will either solve this together or we will go to jail together,” and together they found the funding. As the pressures mounted in creating NOCCA, Friedrich’s support became even more important.24

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