At a rehearsal for the Jazz Aspen Snowmass Academy on Wednesday, composer and trumpeter Etienne Charles picked out what he calls a “tasting menu” of music.
There were reggae beats, calypso songs and even a bit of blues — plus, a spotlight on Harry Belafonte, for the band’s upcoming performance at the Hotel Jerome. Afro-Caribbean music is the centerpiece of this program for college-aged performers, and Charles is passionate about sharing the history and culture behind the music with his students in hopes they might add it to their repertoires, too.
After all, it’s part of who he is.
“I'm born and raised in Trinidad with Venezuelan roots, Martiniquan roots, Grenadian roots, Haitian roots,” Charles said in an interview after rehearsal. “So, you know, I am a pan-Caribbean being myself.”
The students — more than 20 in total — come from lots of different backgrounds, all leading to major schools of music. And some of them have Afro-Caribbean heritage, too.
Nathaniel Willford, a trumpet player at Julliard, said he was excited about this experience, because it connects him to his Puerto Rican roots.
“This is familiar. This is home base,” Willford said. “Even in New York, this is something I miss out on a lot.”
Willford said he’s found inspiration in the way Charles approaches the music — evidence that his instructor’s message is resonating.
“The way Etienne was talking about how he literally immerses himself, he'll go to the country that he's trying to learn about, makes me want to spend time back home,” Willford said. “You know, go to Puerto Rico and learn about that, and also extend to the other cultures and music that I want to learn about.”
The Afro-Carribean focus is a new addition to the JAS Academy, which has now been running for several years; there was also a more classic jazz session, earlier this summer. Both multi-week sessions simulate the life of a working musician, with recording, mixing and marketing courses as well as professional performance credits.
Charles refers to his method as putting students “in the trenches,” with the same rapidly-changing setlists and barrage of new music that an artist might experience on tour, or at the Lincoln Center.
Participants in the earlier program played with Grammy winner Lisa Fischer during the Jazz Aspen Snowmass June Experience, conducted by legendary bassist (and JAS Academy artistic director) Christian McBride.
This current cohort will play with the acclaimed Shelly Berg Trio and vocalist René Marie at the Hotel Jerome on Saturday.
Berg is the dean of the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, which partners with Jazz Aspen Snowmass on this academy. (Charles, the bandleader, is one of the school’s professors; Program Director Chuck Bergeron is on the faculty there, too.)
Berg said an immersive program can make a big difference for emerging artists — even those enrolled full-time in a collegiate music program.
“You think about if you want to learn a foreign language, if you took an intensive two weeks, eight hours a day, you'd be speaking that language,” Berg said. “But if you took two semesters in college — an hour Monday, an hour Wednesday, an hour Friday — you still wouldn't be speaking after 28 weeks. So, it's amazing what an intensive can do.”
Plus, Berg noted, the students can find joy and fun during a program, like this one — especially when the music is as lively and “celebratory” as the Afro-Caribbean repertoire. Some of the players can’t help but dance during rehearsals, and Berg said that’s par for the course with this lineup.
“The thing about the Afro-Caribbean styles is, everybody has to sing, everybody has to play percussion, everybody has to get everybody up to dance,” Berg said. “It can't be sort of this snobby, ‘Yes, we're jazz aficionados.’ It's for the people, and it's really important for jazz musicians and our students to understand that.”
The musicians have been performing all over town during this program. Their show at the Hotel Jerome is sold out, but a waitlist is available.
