Blog Posts

Multi-Talented Camille Thurman Shares Her Wisdom

6/3/2019

By Anthony Aquadro

Anthony is the 2019 marketing and development intern for the Northampton Jazz Festival. A rising senior at Connecticut College, Anthony is a psychology and economics major and is interested in advertising and media buying.

Camille Thurman started playing the saxophone when she was 15, but it wasn’t until she was in her 20’s that Camille began adding jazz singing to her talents. Initially she started working with various bands in New York City and eventually earned the saxophone chair, working regularly with several notable band leaders and projects in New York (Nicholas Payton, Charlie Persip, Valerie Ponomarev).

Over time, she started her own band along with drummer Darrell Green. One day while touring in Africa with American Music Abroad, a program of the United States Department of State, she received a phone call at 3 o’clock in the morning from the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra inviting her to play with them.

Initially shocked that they called her, Camille knew she had a life-changing decision to make. She discussed the offer with her mentors who urged her to take the gig.
Camille has not only worked with the Jazz at Lincoln Center orchestra but has also worked with many jazz and R&B icons, including Wynton Marsalis, George Coleman, and Alicia Keys. Downbeat Magazine has named her a “rising star,” and her rich sound on tenor sax has led others to compare her to greats such as Joe Henderson and Dexter Gordon.

Camille now lives in the New York City area and plays across the globe, continuing to amaze audiences with her vocal and saxophone performances. On May 20, her audience was students at John F. Kennedy Middle School in Northampton; she offered them her skill and knowledge and a performance.

Camille’s visit came as part of the Jazz Artists in the Schools program. For the past year, the Northampton Jazz Festival has been working with Northampton public schools to bring professional jazz musicians in to workshops and clinics. Leaders of the program say it gives young musicians a unique opportunity to learn from and work with acclaimed professionals.

After listening to Camille perform for five to 10 minutes, the students erupted in applause. They then showcased their own talents, performing “Route 66” for her. For the remainder of the 75 minutes they had together, Camille eagerly reinforced that students should focus on three things while playing: the director, the rhythm, and tonal changes. She broke the band into three groups according to the instrument each played—the rhythm and horn sections, and the male vocalist—in order to focus on the improvements needed in each.

Camille explained to the rhythm section—two bass guitarists, a pianist, and a drummer—that in order to be the backbone of the band, they have to consistently keep time together while also watching the director for changes in the song. She directed the trumpet and saxophone players to emphasize dynamics and articulation. She added, “When the singer finishes his or her part in the song, you have to play the shout course as if it is the band’s turn to have their moment in the arrangement.”

“What does the singer do?” Camille asked the class. She then explained that the singer tells the story, and that each section tells the story in a different way. Camille encouraged the school band’s vocalist to add his own flair in telling the story of “Route 66.”

Camille led the group with seeming ease, quickly forming a good rapport with the students. As she worked with each section of the band, the other young musicians listened attentively, nodding their heads in agreement when Camille spoke to them. It was clear she commanded their respect.

The Jazz program at JFK Middle School has grown considerably under the direction of Claire-anne Williams. Starting with 15 students when it was created 13 years ago, the program now consists of 50 students and two separate bands under Williams’ direction.

Camille is the last guest artist the students will work with through the Jazz Artists in the Schools program until mid November at JFK and then at Northampton High School on December 2-3 with trombonist and educator Steve Davis.
For more information or to make a donation to the Jazz Artists in the Schools program, visit northamptonjazzfest.org.

Letter of Support from Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz

5/20/2019

Second Jazz in the Schools Program Launched at Northampton High School in Honor of Former Student

2/8/2019

One of the first students Paul Kinsman got to work with when he landed a student teaching position at Northampton High School was Elliot Ross. “He was a soft-spoken, kind young man who was looking to play bass guitar,” Kinsman remembered. “As a person, Elliot was funny, intelligent and had a huge soul. As a musician, he was a big collaborator. He had a large community of musicians with whom he was friends and with whom he made music.”

When Ross died on Nov. 2 last year, at the age of 21, his parents, Hank and Paula Ross, asked that donations be made to the Jazz in the Schools Program, which had been launched at John F. Kennedy Middle School in the fall of 2018 by organizers of the Northampton Jazz Festival; the goal was to expose student musicians to the mentorship of professional jazz artists. That program still exists and is called the Davis Financial Group Jazz in the Schools Program in honor of its donor.

Nearly 60 individual donations have been received in Elliot Ross’ memory, totaling just under $6,000, and those gifts will support making music available to more students, but this time at Northampton High School. This second program has been named the Elliot Ross Jazz in the Schools Program, and it will continue to expand students’ exposure to jazz at the high school level, along with the high school’s newly formed jazz band and jazz vocal band, led by Kinsman, Northampton High School’s new director of instrumental music.

“Bringing my love of music to Northampton High School has been a dream of mine, and the Jazz in the Schools program is going to be instrumental in doing that,” Kinsman said. “It’s bittersweet being able to do so with the help of family and friends of a student who passed away and an arresting reminder of how deeply we are connected through what we love.”

“We are profoundly touched by the outpouring of support that the Ross’ family and friends have provided to the Jazz in the Schools Program in Elliot’s memory,” Northampton Jazz Festival President Ruth Griggs said. “The $6,000 raised to date will support this second Jazz in the Schools Program for at least two years, with workshops with professional jazz artists occurring three times a year.”

This year’s workshops start on March 4, when vocalist Samirah Evans—billed as a “soulful” performer with New Orleans roots—and trumpeter Don Anderson, along with the Green Street Trio will be working with the high school jazz band. The students will incorporate their learning into a New Orleans jazz-themed performance during an all-school assembly at the high school on March 5 at 12:30 p.m., accompanied by the Green Street Trio. Both Evans and Anderson will then perform at Northampton’s City Sports Grille on March 5 at 7 p.m. as part of the weekly Northampton Jazz Workshop, and students will be invited to join the jazz jam in the latter part of the evening.

The Davis Financial Group Jazz in the Schools Program will continue at the JFK Middle School as a collaboration between Northampton Jazz Festival Producer Paul Arslanian and JFK Middle School Band Director Claire-anne Williams. Two programs are already scheduled for the spring semester at JFK Middle School. Workshops will be led by saxophonist and educator Don Braden on Feb. 11 and 12, and by tenor saxophonist and vocalist Camille Thurman on May 20 and 21. Both musicians will be accompanied by the Green Street Trio.

The Davis Financial Group Jazz in the Schools Program—the original program—took shape last August, when Northampton Jazz Festival organizers teamed up with Northampton public schools to bring professional musicians to the middle school to work with students in the seventh and eighth grade jazz bands, thanks to initial donations by the Davis Financial Group of Hadley. Gary Smulyan, the most acclaimed jazz baritone saxophone player in the world for 12 years, kicked off the program with an Oct. 29 workshop, shortly after the conclusion of the 2018 Northampton Jazz Festival.

Prior to the fall of 2018, students who studied jazz with Williams at JFK Middle School were unable to continue their studies at the high school level within the Northampton school system. That all changed when Northampton High School launched its jazz band and jazz vocal program with the start of the school year.

“Now, with Paul Kinsman leading the jazz band at the high school, students can continue the jazz education they started in middle school,” Griggs said. “It opens up a new realm of possibility for aspiring jazz musicians. Having the Elliot Ross Jazz in the Schools Program to enrich and expand their exposure to live jazz performance is a tremendous bonus for the high school students.”

“I hope the Elliot Ross Jazz in the Schools Program will be a longstanding program at Northampton High School,” Kinsman said. “By carrying Elliot’s name forward, we’re nodding to the fact that this style of music could be somebody’s entrance into a life-long love of music.”

As a freshman in 2012, Ross was a student in Jazz Workshop, a class Kinsman was student teaching where students would study the genre, build their repertoire and perform songs. Even after Ross graduated, Ross and Kinsman stayed in touch, reuniting in 2015 in Vietnam—where Kinsman was teaching and Ross was traveling—to talk about Ross’ musical dreams.

“Elliot’s first love was jazz, but that branched off to include other styles like funk and rock,” Kinsman remembered. “Everyone loves music, but not everyone finds their love of music through band or chorus. Elliot found that love by playing jazz with his bass, which is why carrying on his name through the Jazz in the Schools Program is so important. It means making music as inclusive as possible.”

Donations for the Elliot Ross Jazz in the Schools Program at Northampton High School and the Davis Financial Group Jazz in the Schools Program at JFK Middle School are welcome, and can be made to: Northampton Jazz Festival, P.O. Box 631, Northampton, MA 01061. Please indicate the specific program you wish the funds to go to in the memo line of your check.

By Janice Beetle

Janice is a writer and PR specialist at Beetlepress.com

Northampton Jazz Festival Kicks Off October 19

10/6/2018

NORTHAMPTON—After a three-year hiatus, a revival of the Northampton Jazz Festival will kick off on Friday, Oct. 19, with events scheduled through Oct. 21 throughout downtown Northampton.
The headliner for this year’s event is 14-time Grammy Award winning Latin Jazz Master Paquito D’Rivera and his quintet; they will perform Oct. 20 at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy of Music.
“This is a rare appearance for Paquito in this area, and it is not to be missed,” said Ruth Griggs, president of the eight-member board that formed to breathe new life into the mostly free popular jazz event.
The Northampton Jazz Festival was founded in 2011 by a group of community leaders who wished to stage an event that brought out the community as the former “Taste of Northampton” once did in the early 2000s.
Griggs said, “We are thrilled to be able to carry forward our great American music tradition of live jazz right in downtown Northampton. In 2018, we will honor this mission in new and meaningful ways. We are renewing the fest with a rich line-up of jazz artists from across the globe and around the region.”
The 2018 Northampton Jazz Festival will begin Friday, Oct. 19 at 5 p.m. with a Jazz Strut in which bars, cafes, restaurants and Pulaski Park will play host to small jazz ensembles—resident artists from the Valley—all evening long. Jazz Strut venues include Sam’s Pizzeria and Cafe, Haymarket Cafe, ConVino Wine Bar, Northampton Brewery, Platform Sports Bar, and Hugo’s. Musicians play for two hours at each location with a staggered start time each half hour, so patrons can enjoy many different bands and establishments all evening long.
Saturday’s music line up starts at 11 a.m. at CLICK Workspace with Miro Sprague on piano playing with vocalist Dominique Eade of Berklee School of Music. The music continues through 7 p.m. at Thornes Marketplace, The Parlor Room, The Unitarian Society and Pulaski Park. Marching bands Expandable Brass Band and Prone to Mischief will lead parades of visitors from one performance location to another.
Sunday, a Jazz Brunch at The Hotel Northampton will be held as a fundraiser for the Davis Financial Group Jazz in the Public Schools Program. Performing will be the Green Street Trio with Steve Davis on trombone and Linda Ransom on vocals, plus a student jazz ensemble from JFK Middle School. Tickets are $40 each and must be purchased in advance online at https://www.northamptonjazzfest.org/jazzbrunch.html
Find the full festival schedule at www.northamptonjazzfest.org/schedule.html
The Paquito D’Rivera Academy of Music tickets are $35 premium seating; $25 regular seating; and $10 student seating with ID. Tickets are available at the Academy of Music box office at http://aomtheatre.ticketfly.com/
Born in Havana, Cuba, Paquito performed at age 10 with the National Theater Orchestra, studied at the Havana Conservatory of Music and, at 17, became a featured soloist with the Cuban National Symphony. As a founding member of the Orquesta Cubana de Musica Moderna, he directed that group for two years, while at the same time playing both the clarinet and saxophone with the Cuban National Symphony Orchestra.
Paquito’s numerous recordings include more than 30 solo albums. In 1988, he was a founding member of the United Nation Orchestra, a Grammy winning (1991), 15-piece ensemble organized by Dizzy Gillespie to showcase the fusion of Latin and Caribbean influences with jazz.
Felipe Salles, professor of music at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a 2018 Guggenheim Foundation Composition Fellow, will play with his quartet at the Unitarian Society as will Don Braden, world renowned educator and saxophonist with his “Organix Quartet.”
For the full slate of musicians, visit https://www.northamptonjazzfest.org/musicians-2018-northampton-jazz-festival.html
Griggs said that the festival board is actively partnering with the Downtown Northampton Association (DNA) directed by Amy Cahillane to help ensure the success of the event.
In addition to Griggs, board members for the Northampton Jazz Festival are: treasurer, Alan Blankenship, of Chicopee; clerk, Kathy Service, of Northampton; and directors, Paul Arslanian, of Northampton; David Picchi, of Holyoke; Carolyn Smith, of Easthampton; and George Kaye, of Hadley.
For more information visit www.northamptonjazzfest.org or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/northamptonjazzfest or email to:info@northamptonjazzfest.org

Northampton Jazz Festival Organizers Launch Student Education Program

8/20/2018

Organizers of the 2018 Northampton Jazz Festival are teaming up with Northampton public schools to bring a professional musician to John F. Kennedy Middle School to work with students in the seventh and eighth grade jazz bands.

Gary Smulyan, the most acclaimed jazz baritone saxophone player in the world for 12 years, will kick off the new, ongoing Jazz in the Schools program, which is expected to roll out in multiple sessions each year, beginning this year on Oct. 29. As part of the program, students will receive instruction from Smulyan, and the professional will play alongside the student musicians in a performance.

The new student education program is funded in part by the jazz festival, with help from individual donors. Allen Davis and the Davis Financial Group of Hadley is the first key sponsor of Jazz in the Schools, having made an initial gift. Davis also has pledged additional support for up to five years.

“It was easy to decide to get behind as great a cause as Jazz in the Schools,” said Davis, certified financial planner and founder of the Davis Financial Group. “By pairing professional jazz musicians with young, aspiring players, it gives the students a role model to look up to and learn from. Playing alongside a pro could be just the thing to inspire them with a passion for jazz and fuel their dreams.”

Also supporting the initiative is a fundraiser, The Hotel Northampton Jazz Brunch, which will be held on Oct. 21 at noon in the Grand Ballroom of the hotel. A jazz ensemble from JFK will perform as guests arrive, and jazz musicians Steve Davis, on trombone, and Linda Ransom, on vocals, will perform with the Green Street Trio—with Paul Arslanian, George Kaye and Jon Fisher. Tickets are $40 per guest and are available at northamptonjazzfest.org.

Smulyan’s visit to JFK will come shortly after the conclusion of this year’s Northampton Jazz Festival, which returns Oct. 19 through Oct. 21 after a three-year hiatus. The festival is free—except for two of its events—and is open to the public. It has routinely drawn upwards of 5,000 individuals to see rich line-ups of jazz artists locally and from around the world since its inception in 2011. This year, it will be staged at a variety of indoor venues in downtown Northampton, with acts including the headliner Paquito D’Rivera Quintet, Sheryl Bailey and Don Braden among many others.

The main goal of the Jazz in the Schools program lies in exposing student musicians to the mentorship of jazz artists who are not only masters of their craft and experienced educators, but also inspirational working professionals. The program also aligns well with the Northampton Jazz Festival’s commitment to carrying forward the great American music tradition of live jazz for generations to come.

“Traditionally, this music was learned by listening and interacting with other players; being encouraged by audience reaction, interaction with other musicians on the bandstand, and trial and error,” said Paul Arslanian, producer and creative director of the Northampton Jazz Festival, who is also founder and coordinator of the weekly Northampton Jazz Workshop. “Hopefully this program will encourage that cycle to continue, and nurture a few more young innovators.”

Arslanian worked with Claire-anne Williams, music director at JFK who instructs the seventh and eighth grade jazz bands, to decide on an educational program that would significantly benefit her students.

“The students who participate in my jazz program are highly motivated students who are truly interested in learning,” Williams said. “They’ll be very excited to work with professional jazz musicians who can help them with their improvisational skills and jazz stylistic interpretation.”

Smulyan and Arslanian’s Green Street Trio will work with the seventh and eighth grade ensembles on Monday, Oct. 29, and then perform alongside the same students during a schoolwide assembly on Tuesday, Oct. 30. The students and parents will also be invited to that week’s Northampton Jazz Workshop for a concert with Smulyan and the Green Street Trio.

“What excites me and other jazz musicians is that this program is a vehicle for us to pass on our knowledge, experience and love of the music to another generation,” Arslanian said. “My hope is that a few of the most interested and determined students will go on to pursue careers in music and pass on the history, as well as their own take on the music.”

Jazz has been a popular course of study at JFK Middle School; since the jazz band’s inception 12 years ago, it has grown from a small group of 15 students to two separate bands totaling 50 students. The two bands have performed for parents, at local elementary schools and in the Massachusetts Association for Jazz Education Festival, where they received high scores from judges. Most recently, the school’s top group was an opener for the Jamie Kent Band at Northampton’s Academy of Music.

Jazz in the Schools provides a next step in giving JFK Middle School’s students an opportunity to improve their skills while connecting with the larger jazz community.

“The jazz band program has become an integral part of the JFK Middle School’s community and the Northampton community at large, and this collaboration will be a perfect way to move this program into the larger community in yet another direction,” Williams said. “Music is a very natural way to bring people together and enhance the overall community.”

Perhaps even more valuable than the opportunity for the students to improve their jazz skills, Williams and Arslanian agreed, is the opportunity to inspire in them an enduring passion for music.

“Our mission is to show how beautiful and fulfilling this music can be, and at the same time, make it accessible and understandable,” Arslanian said, noting that the students will be welcome additions to future Northampton Jazz Festival line-ups when they’re ready. “It just takes study and practice if you really want to play the music.”

Written By Janice Beetle
Janice is a writer and PR specialist and owner of Beetle Press in Easthampton, MA.

Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz Supports the Jazz Festival

5/15/2018

“This is the best thing that’s happened in downtown Northampton in 10 years.”

4/26/2018

When four board members spoke about reviving the Northampton Jazz Festival at the April meeting of the Downtown Northampton Association (DNA), this was the reaction from Cathy Cross, owner of Cathy Cross Fashion for Women. I couldn’t be more pleased as this is precisely the buzz we are trying to create with the new model for the Northampton Jazz Festival, founded in 2011.

The festival ran for five years in a tented stage area in the Armory Street parking lot behind Thornes Marketplace. The costs to stage such an event grew to about $50,000, which was not sustainable from a fundraising perspective. (The Northampton Jazz Festival is a 501(c)(3).) In collaboration with Amy Cahillane, Director of the DNA, we quickly agreed upon a less expensive, far more inclusive way to stage the festival: to stage the performances at a host of different venues downtown. And bring economic vitality to the downtown at the same time.

Friday night’s Jazz Strut on October 19 will feature small jazz ensembles at seven or eight different bars and restaurants downtown free of charge to patrons who can stroll, strut or crawl from one to the other all night and catch different acts as they go. Saturday’s all-day free concerts will take place at Click Workspace on Market Street, The Parlor Room on Masonic Street, the Unitarian Society on Main Street, in Thornes Marketplace, and end up in Pulaski Park—the one outdoor venue. After the main stage concert with Latin jazz legend Paquito D’Rivera and his Quintet at the Academy of Music Saturday night (a ticketed event), The Hotel Northampton is sponsoring a jazz brunch, which will be a delicious fundraiser for a new program we are initiating to bring professional jazz musicians into the Northampton Public Schools to advance jazz education. Vocalist Linda Ransom, trombonist Steve Davis and the Green Street Trio will entertain the guests, and a JFK Middle School jazz band will greet the guests as they arrive.

Three days of jazz in downtown Northampton at the height of the fall tourist season when being in New England is a must-do.

Three days of keeping the focus of visitors’ attention right on downtown Northampton, with planned breaks between shows to encourage visitors to shop, dine and view the many creative shops, galleries and food establishments throughout downtown.

Three days of bringing economic vitality to downtown Northampton Massachusetts and ensuring its place as one of the most vibrant and popular downtowns in the United States.

We do hope it’s the best thing that happens to downtown Northampton in 10 years. We hope you come and find out yourself.

Written by Ruth Griggs
Ruth is the president of the Northampton Jazz Festival and founder and owner of strategic marketing communications firm RC Communications in Northampton.

We Are Back! Area Jazz Musicians and Community Members Revive Northampton Jazz Festival

3/14/2018

After a three-year hiatus for the Northampton Jazz Festival, an active group of area musicians and dedicated community members has revived the popular downtown music event by forming a board of directors to govern it.

The festival secured 501(c)(3) nonprofit status in late 2014. The eight-member board, led by president Ruth Griggs, of Northampton, is currently at work planning the 2018 Northampton Jazz Festival. “We are thrilled to be able to carry forward our great American music tradition of live jazz right in downtown Northampton. In 2018, we will honor this mission in new and meaningful ways,” Griggs said. “We are renewing the fest with a rich line-up of jazz artists from across the globe and around the region.”

HISTORY OF THE FESTIVAL
The Northampton Jazz Festival was founded in 2011 by a group who wished to stage an event that brought out the community as the former “Taste of Northampton” once did in the early 2000s.

The Northampton Jazz Festival was produced annually for five years in the Armory Street Parking Lot behind Thornes Marketplace until 2015, when a lack of financial support caused organizers to suspend operations. The festival was free, open to the public and drew upwards of 5,000 individuals from around New England.

A NEW MODEL FOR THE FESTIVAL
Griggs said that the festival board is actively partnering with the Downtown Northampton Association (DNA) directed by Amy Cahillane to help ensure the success of the event. “Amy’s involvement has been a major inspiration for us to bring live jazz music back to downtown Northampton,” Griggs said.A collaboration with the Northampton public schools is also underway. “We want to work toward creating a program to bring more live jazz and encourage jazz exposure and musicianship in the Northampton public schools,” Griggs said. “We‘d like to reach more individuals who would like to learn to play a jazz instrument or sing but may not have the awareness or access to do so.”

AN ACTIVE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
In addition to Griggs, board members for the Northampton Jazz Festival are: treasurer, Alan Blankenship, of Chicopee; clerk, Jesse Adams, of Florence; and directors, Paul Arslanian, of Northampton; David Picchi, of Holyoke; Carolyn Smith, of Easthampton; George Kaye, of Hadley; and Kathy Service, of Northampton.

Board members are actively raising funds to support the festival at this time. To make a donation email info@northamptonjazzfest.org and information will be sent to you or go online to northampotnjazzfest.org/support.

Paul Arslanian, who had an active role in the previous festival as creative director, said, “The Northampton Jazz Festival is needed to bring back live music to downtown Northampton, which has been in demand by residents and visitors alike. We are consciously staging performances at venues all around the city so people can patronize the restaurants and shops downtown in between shows.” Arslanian said the festival will provide a meaningful and unique public performance opportunity for young and rising jazz performers in the area as well as to bring the general public a positive and family-friendly experience.

THREE DAYS OF JAZZ IN DOWNTOWN NORTHAMPTON
This year’s festival will begin Friday, Oct. 19, with the traditional Jazz Strut through downtown, when the city’s restaurants, bars and pubs will host small jazz ensembles—resident artists from the Valley—all evening long.

Saturday’s music line up will involve some of Northampton’s oldest music venues, such as the Unitarian Society on Main Street. “We’ll also be staging performances at some of Northampton’s newest venues, such as Click Workspace and the recently renovated Pulaski Park,” Griggs said. “The main stage concert will be held on Saturday night at the Academy of Music Theatre.”

Sunday, a swinging Jazz Brunch at The Hotel Northampton will be held as a fundraiser to advance the jazz musicianship program in the works for Northampton public schools.

For more information visit Facebook at www.facebook.com/northamptonjazzfest

Written By Janice Beetle
Janice is a writer and PR specialist and owner of Beetle Press in Easthampton, MA.