Four very interesting books that I recently enjoyed reading.
The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century
- Alex Ross
The Fire Next Time
- James Baldwin
The Dying Animal
- Philip Roth
Soul On Ice
- Eldridge Cleaver
This past June I spent a week in Macon at the Georgia Academy for the Blind (GAB). This was a Juilliard residency at the GAB Summer Camp program. With three Juilliard students (Kris Bowers, Chris Burbank, James Burton), I spent the week working with the kids, teaching them about jazz through demonstration, listening, and coaching six different ensembles. The week culminated with a concert where all the ensembles performed.
Going into this week I had no real idea of what to expect. I’ve been around people who are blind but never worked with a group of blind students. The students ranged in age roughly from 11–20. We didn’t know what level of musicianship to expect. Not knowing what to expect is normal fare, what made this unusual was of the six groups only one of them had members that played instruments.
And so the camp began with us saying hello and playing them an assortment of recordings. The response from these kids was overwhelming, their engagement and joy was immediately present. When asked if they had questions hands were always flying. These students made us feel welcome and wanted.
Now like I said, we had a concert to prepare and only one of the six groups had students that played instruments. It didn’t seem to matter to them. One group would have each member sing a blues; another would play a song that was made up with the 3-2 or 2-3 clave they immediately mastered. etc. The group that did play instruments performed an arrangement of “So What” and another tune they learned during the week. It was quite an experience for all of us to be around that kind of enthusiasm.
I must say I have never been around a group of people of that size where everyone so comfortably had each other’s back. They seemed to always have support and encouragement for each other and reveled in all their successes. It was a great experience for me and I think it was for my fellow teachers as well. I hope I get the chance to return next summer.