EXTENSIVE NATIONAL TOURING & OUTREACH CONTINUES THROUGHOUT THE SPRING, REACHING YOUNG PEOPLE IN OVER 17 AMERICAN COMMUNITIES
LATEST ALBUM AND LIVE MULTIMEDIA PROGRAM BIG DRUM/SMALL WORLD CELEBRATES INCREASINGLY GLOBAL NATURE OF JAZZ WITH COMMISSIONED WORKS BY SOME OF TODAY'S MOST ACCLAIMED COMPOSERS
“With music this compelling and performances this committed, [JazzReach house ensemble] Metta Quintet ought to have a much higher profile...[The organization's] commitment to raising jazz visibility has ensured it a perhaps more meaningful place than simple fame would afford, rendering Big Drum/Small World a document of something even more significant." —All About Jazz
“The combination of narration, visuals and live music was well-coordinated and made the presentation especially appealing to young people. The program was just packed with historical content and provided students with a wonderful overview of the development of jazz, all set against the backdrop of history. This program should be seen by all students as it is so very rich in content and presentation." —The Kennedy Center, Washington, DC
New York City-based nonprofit JazzReach celebrates its 17th year building new audiences for jazz with extensive spring 2012 touring and outreach events scheduled nationwide through mid-June (see below for tour dates). The spring season features numerous performances of JazzReach's signature live multimedia educational programs for students in grades K-12, main-stage performances for all audiences, and informative clinics, master classes and workshops for student bands and ensembles. All JazzReach activities are carried out exclusively by the organization's house ensemble Metta Quintet and are presented in partnership with some of the country's leading performing arts centers and presenting organizations. By season's end, JazzReach will have served over 30,000 young people this year alone—many of whom would not otherwise have access to jazz, live music and/or the arts. Since its inception the organization has served well over a quarter million young people and their families, and is poised to continue its growth well into the future.
JazzReach founder and executive director, Hans Schuman, says of the organization's mission, “We're gravely concerned (particularly in light of a recent NEA survey revealing that audiences for jazz are aging and diminishing at an alarming rate) that young people in this country don't have access to this profound, uniquely American art form. So we've made it our mission to take to the road and present the highest quality, most immersive educational programs possible on the notion that without increased awareness, audiences will continue to decline."
Some notable season highlights include the inaugural presentations of two new live multimedia educational programs: Ellington! and Miles Davis and the Blue Flame Incident, which aim to celebrate and promulgate the legacies of jazz icons Duke Ellington and Miles Davis respectively. Like all of JazzReach's educational programs, they creatively merge live music with video projections, live narration and lighting design to create educational experiences that are as immersive and entertaining as they are enlightening and informative.
This season also saw the February release of Metta Quintet's third album Big Drum/Small World, which celebrates and explores the globalization and ever-broadening definition and sound of jazz with five tracks by five composers from five different locales: Omer Avital (Israel), Rudresh Mahanthappa (India), Marcus Strickland (United States), Yosvanny Terry (Cuba) and Miguel Zenón (Puerto Rico). Performed by Greg Ward (alto saxophone), Marcus Strickland (tenor/soprano saxophone), David Bryant (piano), Joshua Ginsburg (bass) and Hans Schuman (drums), this album joins two other critically acclaimed recordings in Metta Quintet's discography: 2006's Subway Songs, featuring all-original compositions inspired by the New York City subway, and 2002's Going to Meet the Man, composed of commissioned works inspired by short stories by American author James Baldwin. A portion of net proceeds from the sale of all Metta Quintet CDs directly benefit JazzReach's national endeavors in arts education.
JAZZREACH / METTA QUINTET SPRING 2012 U.S. TOUR
- April 9—Los Angeles, CA @ Harvard-Westlake School
- April 10—Los Angeles, CA@ GRAMMY Museum
- April 11—Santa Clarita, CA @ Santa Clarita PAC
- April 12—Santa Clarita, CA @ Santa Clarita PAC
- April 13—Santa Clarita, CA @ Santa Clarita PAC
- April 17—New York, NY @ Harlem Stage
- April 18—Morristown, NJ @ Mayo Arts Center
- April 30—Chicago, IL @ Ravinia
- May 1—Chicago, IL @ Old Town School of Folk Music
- May 2—Dubuque, IA @ The Grand Opera House
- May 3—Des Moines, IA @ Civic Music Association
- May 18—Bethel, NY @ Bethel Woods Center for the Arts
- June 13-15—New York, NY @ Highline Ballroom / Blue Note Jazz Fest
About JazzReach
Established in 1994 by musician Hans Schuman, JazzReach is a New York City-based 501(c)(3) not-for-profit arts organization dedicated to the promotion, performance, creation and teaching of jazz music. For over 17 years, JazzReach has provided essential, high quality, all-original arts-education opportunities for young audiences nationwide that aim to foster a greater appreciation, awareness and understanding of the art form. The organization serves between 25,000 and 30,000 young people nationwide annually through its educational programs and in the spirit of the art form itself encourages and invites all to participate regardless of economic status, physical ability, race, religion, age or sexual orientation.
“Jazz music is one of our nation's greatest contributions to world culture," Schuman says. “Sophisticated, hip and refined, it demands excellence and great creativity of its practitioners and has produced some of the greatest cultural icons and creative virtuosi in the history of music. And like all great art, jazz (at its best) makes the intangible tangible and expresses the inexpressible; when you expose young people to these things, souls are nourished and sparks will invariably ignite."
As a not-for-profit organization, JazzReach relies solely on its friends and supporters to make its programs possible. Some of the high profile artists who have lent their support to the organization in the form of benefit concerts and advocacy include Bruce Hornsby, Brad Mehldau, Jack DeJohnette, Christian McBride, Raul Midon, Jason Moran, Antonio Sanchez, Sam Yahel, John Patitucci, Bill Frisell, Joe Lovano, Kenny Garrett, John Scofield, Nick Payton, Ravi Coltrane, Kurt Rosenwinkel and Jane Monheit to name a few.
About Metta Quintet
All of JazzReach's artistic programming is carried out by the organization's official resident ensemble, Metta Quintet. A cohesive, tight-knit unit, Metta Quintet is fueled by a collective, open-minded musical curiosity and a shared dedication to exploring new artistic territory while maintaining a passionate commitment to arts education, fostering new audiences and nurturing young talent. Through the commissioning of new works and the creative integration of live performance, captivating video projections and stunning lighting design, Metta Quintet is committed to challenging convention and expanding the boundaries of live jazz performance.
About Hans Schuman, Founder, JazzReach & Metta Quintet
Born in Lansing, Michigan, Hans Schuman began playing drums at the age of 13 while growing up in Tucson, Arizona. After high school, Hans enrolled at Boston's Berklee College of Music. Upon receiving his Bachelor's Degree in Professional Music in 1990, he moved to New York City where he went on to play with colleagues, friends and luminaries Benny Green, Cyrus Chestnut, Eric Reed, Wynton Marsalis, Brad Mehldau, Larry Goldings, Antonio Hart, Christian McBride, Don Braden, Stefon Harris, Mark Turner, Kurt Rosenwinkel and Joshua Redman, among many others.
In 1994, with proceeds from the reluctant sale of an inherited Steinway Grand Piano, Schuman founded JazzReach out of a small home office. “With little more than a set of drums, a deep passion and love for this great art form and an inherent desire to share it with young people, I established JazzReach as a means to ensure that new, informed audiences continued to be cultivated," he says. “At its best, jazz vividly reflects the highest levels of creative expression, and in turn has this unique capacity to uplift and illuminate all that's possible in the realm of artistic and aesthetic self realization."
Schuman is proud to play Zildjian Cymbals, Tama Drums, Vic Firth Sticks, Brushes and Mallets, Evans Drum Heads and use Calzone Cases exclusively.
