In this second article on the State of Jazz, we are highlighting the work of two gentlemen who in their own individual way are making a difference within their community: Bruce Forman and Michael Brockman.

Forman is a guitarist from the San Francisco Bay who has matured into one of the finest Jazz musicians on the West Coast. Well grounded on the Be-bop tradition and after years of performing in clubs and various venues, Bruce has taken upon himself to help bring Jazz to young people.

Michael Brockman, an outstanding arranger, composer and tenor extraordinaire, is a faculty member at the University of Washington, in Seattle and co-leads the Seattle Jazz Repertory Orchestra. Fifteen years ago, he and his group created an organization with an outstanding concert series and educational program that is now flourishing and making many outstanding contributions to the Jazz canon.

We'll first focus our attention on Bruce Forman who five years ago had the idea of starting educational workshops from the ground level with the intention of teaching Jazz to the youth in San Francisco. The goal was to reach young people regardless of economical status.

The results have been remarkable and the educational outreach has produced some fine young musicians. Below is an essay Bruce submitted to us that highlights the mission and goals of his Jazz Masters Workshop (JMW):

Founded in 2000 by internationally acclaimed guitarist and educator, Bruce Forman--Jazz Masters Workshop (JMW) puts the power of music performance directly in the hands of children and young adults.  In just over five years, JMW has provided over 1,500 workshops to children of all ages, abilities and backgrounds…all free of charge. Emphasizing the time-honored mentoring process to augment traditional music education, JMW provides beginning, developing and advanced players with unprecedented access to world-class musicians.  By facilitating weekly, hands-on performance-oriented workshops, artists directly interact with, educate, and inspire students.  As a result, children and young adults are provided an apprenticeship approach to learning and performing, a necessity for continuing the rich historical tradition of American music.

Two key factors have helped the JMW become a success. One is the partners and sponsors who have contributed to his organization. Forman has been able to obtain donations from over 50 donors both from the private and corporate sectors. For a complete list, see Partners/Sponsors
 Second, he has surrounded himself with a board of directors that has been active in helping Bruce meet the goals of Jazz education through his workshops. The board is headed by Mike Lyons who has been successful in several pursuits in raising money for various interest groups.

Mr. Lyons has over 20 years of experience in founding, operating, and funding high technology companies. He currently serves as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Vanguard Ventures, a premier Silicon Valley venture capital firm, and as a Sr. Advisory Director of Investcorp, a large NY-based late stage venture capital firm. He is concurrently Managing General Partner of Zilkha Venture Partners, a fully invested early stage venture capital partnership focused on seed and first round investments in technology companies, principally located in Silicon Valley, and Consulting Associate Professor in the Stanford School of Engineering. He was a co-founder of Integrated Systems, Informed Diagnostics, and SafeView, Inc. and currently serves as a Director of both Selectica (SLTC), and Real-Time Innovations, and as Chairman of SafeView.

 Mr. Lyons brings plenty of experience to JMW and his commitment to it's success is better understood in light of the following quotation:

"Without artistic expression, the process of creating self-actualizing individuals who can enhance our society is much harder. With the collapse of funding for the arts, private initiatives must be developed to restore the richness of our educational system. Delivery of high-quality programs under the tutelage of world-class musicians, without stifling bureaucracy, was a principal reason for my helping to start this organization."

This collaboration has been a fruitful relationship. With Forman’s artistic vision and Lyons' expertise in creating public awareness, the Jazz Workshops were off and running. They’ve begun to have power and affect on their community and becoming real difference makers.

 Besides getting the concept of the workshops up and running, Forman has assembled one of the most impressive mentoring staffs in the country. To see a complete list of contributors go here.  Some of these names include John Stowell, Phil Upchurch, Mundell Lowe, along with many other accomplished artists.

From first hand experience, and having done workshops with world-class musicians, and presenting to kids, this is invaluable. They get to experience the music first hand for themselves-- this is how I personally fell in love with the music. My father took me to a Washington D.C. nightclub when I was young. There, I heard trumpet master Clark Terry. Some of my memory is vague from this experience, but my father told me I was mesmerized by Clark. As the story goes, I was in the front row watching Clark scat and play, so in tuned, I fell out of my chair, and Clark came over to help me up. He smiled, shook my hand, and it was an experience I’ll never forget. I was 6 years old!

Another dimension of Bruce Forman's contributions is his Rt. 66 Cow-bop experience. Here Forman and a group of musicians go on the road, down Rt. 66 in a van together. Each musician is challenged to go with a mere $100 in their pockets. Their goal, is to go from town to town, offering concerts, clinic’s, gigs for any compensation given. This could be anything from dinner to cash. In getting back to basics, the musicians are challenged to make Jazz an entertaining, and yet viable art form to anyone who will listen. Please see the following excerpt Bruce forwarded to me:

JAZZMASTERS WORKSHOP TAKES ON RUGGED CALIFORNIA COAST

Wild Fundraiser For Music-Mentoring Program 
Goes “ON THE EDGE”

Carmel Valley, CA – June 12, 2006 – They’re at it again! Not willing to rest on their laurels (two successful trips on Route 66 and a Gold Country jaunt) Bruce Forman and his Western jazz swing band, ‘Cow Bop’ will take on California Highway 1.  Like the previous ‘road challenges’, the band will depart with only $100 and no scheduled gigs, planning to play, barter and busk their way from the jacaranda-studded mission town of San Juan Capistrano to the mighty redwoods of the Lost Coast.  This extraordinary fundraising campaign for JazzMasters Workshop (JMW) (www.jazzmastersworkshop.org), exemplifies their commitment to the five-year old non-profit music-mentoring program that has expanded nationally.

Given the success of the ambitious road tour dubbed the “Route 66 Challenge”, Forman and his band are taking to the road again.

For more information about the cowbop experience, please vist: CowBop.com and WayOutWestMusic.com

After reading this article, I caught up with Bruce and asked him these questions:

Rick Holland: Bruce thanks for spending some time with us at JR247. I’m very appreciative of your ground works efforts to promote Jazz education and the Art of Jazz in and out of the San Francisco Bay area. Tell us how the Jazz Master’s Workshop started?

Bruce Forman: I was frustrated that weren't a lot of opportunities for young players to play with pros. I was fortunate to have had many experiences of that nature coming up. Also, I feel that musicians were a great cultural resource that was not properly engaged.

RH: Where have some other satellite programs sprung up around the country through your efforts?

BF: Along with Monterey CA area, LA, SF Bay Area, Chicago and NY.

RH: How do you feel these programs are doing? What are some of the basic needs that maybe some of our listeners and supporters may be able to help in contributing towards these workshops?

BF: The programs run weekly and are†doing well, and we have shown how easy it is to implement them. Now, we are focusing on helping communities start their own. We are extremely efficient, but it does take a certain amount of cash to keep it all swinging. I ask people to put their money where their ears are. We have the results to show for our work (scholarships, lives turned around, expanded opportunities for players, etc)

RH: Can you explain in some detail, the Cow-Bop, Route 66 experience? When did it start? And, who are some of the professionals who have taken part?

BF: The road-trip is part Kerouac, Easy Rider, and reality TV all rolled into one. We wanted to show our commitment and get out and meet people on their own turf. Sometimes the music business has a way of†insulating us from people. The road experience gave me a new appreciation of playing and what music means in the fabric of our lives. Of course, it allowed us to demonstrate our deep commitment to the Jazz Masters Workshop mission.

RH: How powerful is the “live” performance in your estimation?

BF: We're people, live is everything. To be there and to be present,†ultimately it is what life is about.

RH: Did a lot of this hit a big light bulb, when it may have occurred there was too little “live’ presentation?

BF: I can't speak for anyone else, but I think that person-to-person contact is the most meaningful and effective way of communicate anything, and unfortunately, it seems to have less and less importance in the world around us and the mass-marketing mindset that seems to pervade even individualistic forms like music and art. I'm doing what†I can for something that means†the world to me.††

RH: In your opinion, what does our Jazz community as a whole need to be doing to keep our art alive and active?

BF: To get out and play, hang and be a part of this wonderful human experiment. As a participant, student and mentor…..never lose the magic of†discovery

RH: Bruce thanks for your time. We support your efforts, and wish you luck in your upcoming trip.

For more information on how to support Bruce Forman's efforts see: JazzMastersWorkshop.org and CowBop.com