Since its founding in 2007, the annual Brooks Jazz Night has been attracting performers one might expect to see in large concert venues, not middle school auditoriums. Jazz at Brooks, however, isn’t your typical grammar school music department program, said music instructor James Barnard.
“I think we’re in a very unique situation,” said Barnard in an interview last week. “We’ve been able to evolve a very strong jazz program here, as well as at Julian. Students get a solid foundation with music theory and instrumentation skills. We also teach them jazz improvisation during a clinic that has a blues foundation.”
During the 10th Annual Jazz Night on April 6, that range of instruction will be on display as the school’s Jazz Lab Band, Jazz Ensemble and its Barbershop, Beauty Shop and Shoppettes vocal ensembles come together to perform alongside professional musicians Mardra and Reggie Thomas.
Mardra, who’s become well-known for her theatrical portrayal of Billie Holiday, was the opening act of Dizzy Gillespie’s 70th Birthday Concert. She has also shared the stage with the famous jazz trumpeter Clark Terry.
Reggie is the coordinator of jazz studies at Northern Illinois University, having served three years before that as a professor of jazz piano at Michigan State University and 20 years as a professor of music at South Illinois University Edwardsville. He’s also a longtime consultant and clinician for Jazz at Lincoln Center.
“It’s so inspiring for me as a teacher to have these quintessential professionals working with our students,” said Barnard.
April 6 will be a full day for Brooks jazz musicians, with three hours of rehearsal, improv and vocal clinics before the students perform alongside the professionals during a performance that starts at 7 p.m. After the professionals and students share the stage, Barnard said, Mardra and Reggie will have the stage to themselves.
Barnard taught in urban schools in St. Louis before coming to Oak Park. The experience, he said, proved influential enough that it became something of a model for the program at Brooks.
“In St. Louis, I had close access to jazz musicians and other people on the jazz scene,” he said. “Oak Park is really close to downtown Chicago, so a lot of professional jazz musicians are really accessible.”
The first Jazz Night in 2007 featured Shirley King, daughter of the late blues singer, songwriter and guitarist B.B. King, and a longtime resident of Oak Park. Since then, Barnard said, the annual night has hosted premier jazz artists such as the percussionist Ruben Alvarez, singer Typhanie Monique, and the Elmhurst College Jazz Band.
The 10th Annual Brooks Jazz Night will take place at 7 p.m., Saturday, April 6, at Gwendolyn Brooks Middle School Auditorium, 325 S. Kenilworth Ave. Admission for the evening concert is $10 for adult and $5 for students 16 years and under. You can purchase tickets online and reserve them at the door by visiting https://oakpark.revtrak.net/Middle-Schools/Brooks/Middle-School/BMS-Jazz-Night/#/list.
CONTACT: michael@oakpark.com
