Jazzin' Round the World Residency
with the John Blake Quartet

Prior to the existence of the United States, the elements that would eventually create jazz were brewing abroad. These influences included the music from Arabic, Indian, African and other minor cultures, although this music, in early times, showed very little resemblance to American jazz as we know it today. Only the African influence was clearly felt in early jazz because of the tradition of slavery in the United States, and the influence of African American musicians on its development. But when jazz artists began looking for new ways to play, their fascination with the great rhythmic wealth of Arabic and Indian music gave rise to a whole new world of jazz styles. All these and more will be explored by internationally acclaimed jazz violinist, composer and educator, John Blake, Jr in this multicultural residency.

Description and Timing

Residency format

Day 1: General Assembly or Assemblies for Entire School Population Given by the John Blake Jazz Quartet, students are introduced to traditional jazz concepts of rhythm, melody, harmony, and jazz improvisation, but with a whole new perspective, as they hear how jazz differs from culture to culture. An unusual array of percussion instruments, the more familiar Klezmer music, and the traditional Indian way of “fiddling” all are included in these first, very interactive performances.

Workshop 1: Following the general assemblies, normally on the same day, one classroom, or group of students (15-20 is the recommended group size), selected by the school administrators, begins the first workshop, with a review of the concepts presented in the initial programs. The workshop group will be divided into four groups, each one learning to produce the basic sounds relevant to four different cultures, from the one-string fiddle styles of Indian music, to the bagpipe sound of Scotland and Ireland. Classroom and music teachers will be totally involved in the entire project, from planning to execution.

Workshops 2-4: Each student will learn about the origin and history of the country where his or her selected instrument originated. With the assistance of the teacher, students will be encouraged to assemble a collage representative of each culture, continue working with the assigned instruments, in helping to compose the musical compositions for final performance.

With school approval, every classroom will be visited by John Blake during the residency. Concepts of jazz improvisation will be demonstrated, as well as the range of jazz fiddling as it is presented in Indian, Arabic, Jewish, and Irish cultures.

Final Day: Full school performances, incorporating the workshop students with the John Blake Jazz Quartet. Students will be encouraged to introduce the instruments on which they will be performing to the audience themselves. The final performances will involve the entire school in a multicultural celebration of jazz fiddling.

The following curriculum will be addressed:

Geography: These workshops offer a unique cross cultural experience in learning how the violin has connected the three continents, in the countries of India, Africa, the Middle East and India.

History: The fiddle, and the percussion instruments of our four included countries have evolved over time to present day jazz. Tracing this development is a living lesson in history.

Science: The synthesizer is one of the featured influences in Jazzin’ Round the World, because it can duplicate the sitar, from India, the bagpipe, the banjo and the sounds of Klezmer music. A short lesson on how the synthesizer produces these variations will be included.

Costs: Based on $550 per general performance, and $400 per workshop (involving one classroom period with selected students, followed by individual classroom visits for up to two hours in total) the average cost of this unique and exciting educational experiens $3800.