JAZZ GROOVES...
Performing Artists Working With Your Students Rob Babel, MMEA Jazz Vice-president
Back in the 2002-2003 school year, I was still trying to figure out a lot of things as a head band director. With my jazz band, I had some talented players, but I hadn’t really learned how to get them to come together as an ensemble. The year before, we had hosted a concert in our auditorium with Maynard Ferguson and his band, but it was in early October and I didn’t even feel comfortable accepting the invitation to open the concert with my band. My lead trombone player (who would make all-state the next year) was really getting into jazz and doing some listening to great
players
on his own. His name was Josh. I remember having a conversation with him when he talked about how much he listened to Bill Watrous (jazz trombone royalty for those of you that are not familiar). He loved his playing and he tried to emulate some of his style as he practiced. So as the school year started and I started to think about this, I got the crazy idea that I should contact Bill Watrous about coming in to perform as a guest with my band. I contacted my high school band director from Kirkwood, Tom Poshak. He had Bill’s contact info from a few years before. Of course, 12 years ago, most of us were still actually making phone calls instead of emailing or texting, so I wrote his home phone number down and prepared myself to make the call.
Now calling your first guest artist is kind of like asking someone out on a date. Will he/she like me? Will he/ she want to agree to meet? How much is this going to cost? Yeah, it’s
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pretty much the same. Anyway, Bill answers the phone and I nervously tell him who I am and ask if he would be interested in coming in as a guest artist to perform with my band. To my surprise, he was very interested and said he would be glad to do it. (I have to be honest and tell you that my negotiating skills weren’t as good back then, so our agreed upon fee might have been one of the reasons he was so excited, but that’s not the point of this article… so moving on.)
The next day at school, I was like a little kid with a big secret to tell my students. I revealed the news in jazz band rehearsal that Bill Watrous was going to perform with us at our spring concert. The look on Josh’s face was one of excitement and disbelief all at once. It was like telling the basketball team captain that Michael Jordan was going to play with our team in districts. At the end of rehearsal, Josh came up to me and had a concerned look on his face. He said, “I’m worried that we aren’t going to be able to perform with Bill Watrous and sound good.” Since he was one of the leaders of the band, I told him, “I’m leaving that up to you. You’ve got to let them know how important this is.”
So for the next two months, with Josh’s help, I painted a picture of Bill Watrous as the most tyrannical maniac of a jazz musician who, if he as much as heard a wrong note in a sax soli, would turn around, reach into the chest of the offending player, rip out his heart, and hold
it up for the audience to see. My students began to fear Bill Watrous. They had to practice for this concert like no other. And they did.
When Bill came into town, I was a bit awestruck myself. I had listened to many of his recordings and I had seen him perform live a couple times, but all I knew about him was that he was an amazing player. Once I picked him up at the airport and began talking with him, I realized he was a regular person, just like me. He had devoted his life to mastering his instrument, but he still appreciated a cup of coffee in the morning to get him going. I remember he asked me to take him to the grocery store so he could buy some fruit and I thought to myself, “Wow, Bill Watrous shops at the grocery store.”
When I brought Bill into rehearsal with the band that night, my students were nervously excited. I could have had the president of the United States walk in beside us and Josh wouldn’t have noticed. I felt like Santa Claus.
Rehearsal that night was fantastic. The concert the next night was magical. It was the first time my band had sounded that well; like a professional group. Colleagues of mine that attended the concert couldn’t believe how well the band played, because they had heard us
MISSOURI SCHOOL MUSIC| Volume 68, Number 3
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