Music flowed from every direction Thursday morning at the Norfolk Waterside Marriott.
From the roar of the brass to the smooth sounds of the saxophones to the snap of percussion – that’s jazz.
“It’s not something that needs processing,” said Tyler Stephens, a trombonist in the Norfolk State Jazz Ensemble. “It’s jazz. When you’re in the moment, you’re already there.”
It was a morning of mentorship for 12 bands that have spent the last year learning under the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Jazz Residency as part of a unique collaboration with the Virginia Arts Festival. The goal is to nurture the next generation, building up to a three-day residency that culminates tonight when two bands open for the orchestra, headlined by Wynton Marsalis.
The nine-time Grammy winner, who has also received the National Medal of the Arts and the Pulitzer Prize, will perform with his Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra at Chrysler Hall.
NSU and Benedict College won the honor of opening for him two years ago. They are in the mix again, along with North Carolina A&T, Jackson State, North Carolina Central, Huston-Tillotson, Morehouse, Gadsden State Community College, Grambling State, Central State, Elizabeth City State, and Florida A&M.
NSU director Stephanie Sanders said her 44-piece ensemble – the largest in its history – soaked up nuggets offered by Jazz at Lincoln Center bassist Carlos Henriquez. Henriquez trained at The Juilliard School and has performed for 25 years alongside artists such as Stevie Wonder, Willie Nelson and Lenny Kravitz, and Marsalis, whom he’s known since he was 14.
Henriquez was one of 12 coaches who spent 75 minutes coaching the bands in various ballrooms.
“The thing I want you cats to really understand is, it’s about unity,” Henriquez explained. “It’s not about you. It’s about putting different people together to make one sound beautiful. Now, the experience of making that sound, that’s individual. It’s spiritual, truly unbelievable.”
Stephens, the NSU trombonist, reveled in the occasion, inspired to return to the big stage. He remembered the performance two years ago as “electric.” The music education major grew up in South Boston, playing trombone like his father, who gifted him with the trombone tie he wore on Thursday.
“I would love to open up again,” he said.
The morning clinics were followed by a two-hour Q&A session during which students quizzed Marsalis, the artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, on all things music and beyond. Between occasional bursts of scat, the 63-year-old trumpeter and composer answered every question at length, revealing the largest smiles for students who identified as trumpet players.
Marsalis on the changing landscape of professional jazz: “The dream of New York in 1948 doesn’t exist. The whole world is much closer and the whole world needs you. Look at the world and ask yourself, ‘Where can I go?’”
On character: “As you get older, you run out of people to blame; the one constant is you. Take yourself seriously.”
On why jazz? “My daddy played jazz. It’s as simple as that.”
On practicing, which he did six hours a day as a teen: “Do it every day. What you do is what you will do. If you’re doing it, you’re going to do it. If you ain’t doing it, you ain’t going to do it.”
The day concluded with an evening jam session. Adjudications to choose the top two bands begin this morning, and winners will be announced at an awards ceremony at 4:15 p.m. The selected bands will rehearse for one hour at 6, with the first performance at 7:35
The Virginia Arts Festival introduced the biannual “Black Brown and Beige” program in 2023 with nine bands.
“It’s been wildly successfully received by the directors and the students,” said Todd Stoll, vice president of education at Jazz at Lincoln Center. With funding for university jazz programs lacking, the partnership with HBCUs aims to provide a library of resources that include accurate arrangements and scores of “the best music ever written,” Stoll said.
“I just sponged,” said junior percussionist Dejah Wilson, a music media major at NSU, who savored performing two years ago. “If you’re not learning, you’re not growing. Today was about growing.”
Visit vafest.org for tickets and more information.
