New to jazz, but not..

[beatvendor]

Hi everyone, I'm a new member, just in case you wanted to know. Anyway, I had some questions. I'm not new to jazz; as a middle school student, my choir teacher introduced me to the wonders of this style of music. I auditioned for her jazz choir and made it; we performed at festivals all around the Seattle area. I just completely fell head over heels in love with it. That teacher moved on to bigger and better things, but unfortunately abandoned all of us newly-birthed jazz babies in limbo. I have since formed a group with my best friends from that choir, and we've survived for 4 years. I compose jazz music for us and we also sing some of the classics. As an individual, I had put all my energy in classical singing and classical piano, as well as theater, but now I'm remembering how much I loved jazz and want to start doing more with it, maybe even consider it as a line of study in college and as a career. Does anyone have any advice as to how I could get started? What sort of music/anthologies/books would you recommend for a jazz vocalist/pianist? How could I start getting gigs on my own (and maybe for my group)? I'm pretty much lost, but I know this is something I love and want to pursue. Thanks :)

[catesta]

Glad to see a young student have such an interest in jazz.

[bubber]

If you're still a student, I think you should talk your school into getting a new teacher with a jazz background, if not on a regular basis at least as a guest lecturer, and take it from there.

I also have the impression that the Seattle area has a healthy jazz scene, so I would check that one out and see if you can find someone there able to guide you.

[beatvendor]

Well, I'm not in middle school anymore, so we actually do have a great jazz teacher here at my highschool who has already started guiding me in some things. But, due to my schedule, I can't take jazz until next year, though he did want me to try it out this year. Anyway. Thanks for the tips, I wasn't aware that Seattle had a great jazz scene, though I have assumed it would be a great place to start out.

[Bill Barton]

Seattle has some fine jazz singers. Although she doesn't post on this board (to the best of my knowledge), Lynn Bush is a regular over on Jazz Corner.

You might want to check out:
MCNW (http://www.serv.net/~mcnw/)
Kelley Johnson is on faculty there.
&
Tula's (http://www.tulas.com/)

[Phil Kelly]

Also in Seattle, you might want to check out Greta Matassa's website ..

http://www.gretamatassa.com/

In addition to being one of the best jazz singers in the NW, she also does a lot of teaching as well ..

As fpr perfomances ..check out Tulas ..in addition to having all manner of good NW jazz, they have singers jam nights ..check out their online calendar.

as for vocal arranging, try to get ahold of some of the Gene Puerling charts for Singers Unlimited and study them ( I do believe many are published )

Good Luck!

[Bill Barton]

Oh yes, and a specific recommendation regarding piano teachers at Music Center of the Northwest: Yvonne Hoar, who is second to none in the classical world, but also has a real affinity for jazz.

Phil's recs are on the money too. This area is very rich when it comes to music, particularly when you consider the relative size compared to LA or NYC or Chicago or Boston, etc. You're lucky to be here and not in a zillion-and-one places I could think of off the top of my head (including where I grew up!) :) :eek: