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Corridor jazz bands to play with the pros at Hancher

By Loren Keller

In the first musical event of its kind in the Corridor, eight public high school jazz bands will join together for a concert at Hancher Auditorium Thursday night and release a CD of music recorded by each band with a professional jazz player.

The “Corridor Jazz Project” celebration concert – featuring the jazz bands from Jefferson, Kennedy, Prairie and Washington high schools in Cedar Rapids; Linn Mar and Marion high schools in Marion; and City and West high schools in Iowa City — will be performed at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 17. Tickets are $5 and available at the door, through the participating high schools, or at West Music in Coralville and Marion.

“We have such great jazz programs, but to be honest sometimes they get overshadowed a little bit by marching band, show choir, sports and everything else,” says Dennis Green, general manager of Kirkwood Community College’s Jazz 88.3 KCCK, which created the project.

“So we really took this as an opportunity to provide a great experience for the students and let them get up close and work with adult musicians as fellow professionals."

The professionals – including Chris Merz, Rich Medd, Al Naylor, Rod Peirson, Lynne Hart, Chris Bucholz, Steve Grismore and Bob Washut – will perform as guest soloists with the bands. Each collaborated with a high school jazz band on the songs recorded professionally earlier this year for the CD, which sells for $15 with proceeds benefitting the jazz bands.

Featuring a cover design by Kennedy High School junior Cheyanne McGrail, the CD will be available for sale at schools, KCCK, the Cedar Rapids Barnes and Noble store, and Real CDs and Records in Iowa City.

“Even today when it’s a lot easier to make a CD than it used to be, it is still exciting to be part of a project of this caliber,” Green says. “It’s a great looking package and I know everybody will be excited to hear the bands.”

Green says the Corridor Jazz Project is a welcome outgrowth of the Cedar Six Jazz Concert.

“We were able to add the Iowa City public schools in addition to the Cedar Rapids and Marion schools, so now we’ve got the first event that involves the entire Corridor,” he says. “And being able to stage this concert on the same stage where Wynton Marsalis and Tony Bennett and Pat Metheny get to stand is an extra thing for the students.”

Grismore, an adjunct instructor of jazz studies at Augustana College and the UI, worked with Washington High jazz band director Steve Shanley and his students on an arrangement of Bill Frisell’s song “Is This Sweet?”

“It’s really fun and it’s a very unique piece,” says Grismore, who will play electric guitar with the band at Hancher. “As far as I know it’s a world premiere in the sense that the tune has never been recorded in a big band setting. The tune was originally done with a six-piece group and he arranged it for a jazz band.”

Saxophonist Lynne Hart has been working with Marion’s jazz band for the past year.

“She did several sessions, so they’ve really taken this program to the next level and created an ongoing mentoring relationship with these guest artists,” Green says. “We were hoping for that relationship building and the continuing opportunity for the students and guest artists to work together.”