Rivers Jazz Phenom Reflects on Summer Programs

We just received an update from recent Rivers graduate Casey Berman ’09, who will be studying jazz at New York University this fall. He has spent his summer involved in several local music programs. Below, he reflects on his experiences…

“I decided to spend this summer preparing for college. But not like most people do.
I made the decision at the end of last summer that I was going to be a jazz studies major in college. To be a jazz musician nowadays, you have to be extremely talented, skilled and in-practice to even get work; so in short, I need to get my chops together. I decided to spend my summer honing my skills on the tenor saxophone so that I could hit the ground running in the fall at NYU.

Over the course of this last academic year, Mr. Crettien had us take part in many high school competitions, including the Mingus and Ellington competitions in New York, and the Berklee High School and MAJE (Massachusetts Association for Jazz Educators) Competitions regionally. In the most recent MAJE state competition, I was fortunate enough to receive a full scholarship to UMass Amherst's Jazz in July program. I had gone last year (I won a half scholarship last year), and the program had been good for me, so I figured that I'd check it out again.

The camp was started by the iconic jazz educator Billy Taylor, who has played with Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Lee Konitz, and many others. He was the first to try to bring jazz to the masses, creating the TV series The Subject is Jazz on NBC. This year, the camp's faculty consisted of such esteemed teachers as Sheila Jordan (singer who worked with Charlie Parker in her youth) and Chip Jackson (bassist who has played with Elvin Jones, Ravi Coltrane, and many others). This year, Frank Newton, a tenor saxophone player, took charge of the program. Since he knew where we were coming from as players, he was quick to make little adjustments to make our experience more rewarding and enjoyable.

I took part in the program last year, but this year was a completely different experience. I walked into my combo room to meet the other players, and was immediately impressed. The drummer, a 15 year-old named Evan, is one of the best high-school drummers in the country (he was featured in Downbeat Magazine as a finalist in the prestigious Grammy Band audition). The bassist and trumpet player were both graduate students in the UMass Amherst Jazz program. Our coach turned out to be Tiger Okashi, a trumpeter who played with Buddy Rich and George Russell. As the leader of each meeting, he gave us challenging and unusual material to play (including a few of his own tunes). Most importantly, he always had constructive criticism for every player, regardless of how good his performance was.

Along with trekking across the enormous UMass campus and back for every meal, our schedule consisted of combo rehearsal, instrument-specific master class, general master class, big band rehearsal, and a faculty performance each day. After the performance was a large chunk of free time, which we could use to unwind from the day, order food (there was an epic chicken wings place called "The Hanger" that we ordered wings from every night), or have jam sessions. Although the performing arts building was only supposed to be open 'till ten, Frank let me and Evan and a few other kids stay out as late as we needed to finish our session, which we took advantage of every night.

Throughout the week, we worked on free, funk, and groove-oriented tunes (to break it up, I brought in one of my originals, which we played in the final concert). Although we didn't spend any time working on the standard jazz repertoire, it was a good look into playing an unusual jazz subgenre. In addition, Evan's dedication to master the basics of jazz with copious hours of practicing a day gave my personal work ethic a boost.”