The Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra, is a group co-directed by Michael Brockman and Clarence Acox. Their mission statement includes focusing on literature in the 100 year history of Jazz. Their repertoire includes works from: Fletcher Henderson, Charles Mingus, Gil Evans, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Gerry Mulligan, Thad Jones, Count Basie to Duke Ellington.

Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra

In addition to it’s expanding repertoire, their mission is to transcribe more and more unpublished works in this rich history, and perform these arrangements. The man who does a lot of this transcribing is Michael Brockman. Just recently, SRJO performed and recorded The Sacred Music of Duke Ellington, live, and released this concert on Origin Records. 

Besides concentrating on traditional and unpublished works, the organization has brought in a who’s who of internationally acclaimed artists. Some of these artists trumpeters Clark Terry and Arturo Sandoval, saxophonists James Moody, Jimmy Heath, Frank Foster, Frank Wess and Kenny Hing, trombonist Slide Hampton, and singers Marlena Shaw, Ernie Andrews and Dee Daniels.

In 2001, Quincy Jones conducted the SRJO at the Seattle Opera House in a performance of works he wrote for the Basie band and his own groups. The SRJO has played tribute concerts to Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, Count Basie, Stan Kenton, and Thelonious Monk. The band itself consists of some very fine musicians who have settled in the Seattle area. Here’s a brief description of some of these players taken from the SRJO web-site:

Trumpeter Floyd Standifer is a veteran of Seattle’s Jackson Street scene and of tours and multiple recordings with the Quincy Jones big band. Trumpeter Jay Thomas has repeatedly been named best instrumentalist at Earshot's annual Golden Ear awards and has recorded with Cedar Walton and Herb Ellis. Saxophonist Bill Ramsay is a touring veteran of the Count Basie Orchestra and the Benny Goodman bands. Saxophonist Hadley Caliman is a jazz faculty member at the Cornish College of the Arts, and a veteran of the bands of Freddie Hubbard and Earl Hines. Phil Sparks, named Earshot Musician of the Year in 1996, is the busiest bass player in Seattle. Saxophonist Mark Taylor is among the most in-demand young players in Seattle.

Joining the band again this year is renowned pianist Randy Halberstadt, and another local headliner, pianist Larry Fuller, who gained national fame as the pianist for the legendary Ray Brown during the final years of the bassist's life. Fuller is also well known to Seattle audiences as the accompanist of Ernestine Anderson.
One of the most impressive things about SRJO, is it has well funded programs to the support of educational opportunities for kids in the great Northwest. Several members of the band serve as mentors and local high schools and at the University of Washington. Furthermore, as a service to the public, the SRJO undertakes many educational outreach activities during its concert year, including:

1. in-school visitations by SRJO artists
2. jazz workshops and clinics for local school musicians
3. the annual Jazz4Kids concert (held each year in March) that is presented free-of-charge to all school age children and youth, plus  any parent, teacher or youth group leader accompanying the  the SRJO Jazz Scholars Program, which provides
   select student free private lessons with an SRJO musician, and a free
   instrument when necessary

As the web site states, there is power in “live” presentation. This is one of the ways this great American art form will survive. Creating ‘live’ presentation for our youth is simply invaluable. Patronage, passion and love for Art will come from not only hearing, but seeing as well.

I caught up with Michael Brockman, to ask him a few questions about SRJO currently.

Rick Holland: Thanks Mike for taking the time to join JR247. I’d like to start by asking you to share some things about the Seattle Repertory Orchestra, with our listeners, to introduce them to you and your organization. Specifically, about the mission of your organization.

Michael Brockman: The SRJO had its early beginnings from some concerts organized here in Seattle about 15 years ago.  We pulled together all our favorite soloists and band leaders to put on concerts of rare works by Ellington--mostly pieces that I had transcribed from vintage recordings.  The concerts were a big success, and all the players really enjoyed performing great and rare pieces together. 

We decided to make the band a permanent ensemble, and in 1995 we officially organized it as the SRJO.  We’re now a fully-professional big band comprised of the leading soloists in the Seattle area, and are about to embark on our 12th concert season.  We have an annual subscription concert series, and play a variety of outreach concerts, all presenting what we feel qualifies as "great music for big band by America's greatest composers."

In our twelve years we have commissioned several new works by modern composers (including a new suite by the great Jimmy Heath, to be premiered in November 06), and have brought numerous jazz masters to Seattle to share the stage with us, including Clark Terry, Benny Golson, James Moody, Slide Hampton, Arturo Sandoval, Gerald Wilson, Jimmy Heath, Frank Foster, Frank Wess, Kenny Hing, Buddy Catlett, Marlena Shaw, Ernie Andrews and Dee Daniels. We're presenting concerts year-round featuring music of great composers ranging from Jimmie Lunceford and Earl Hines to Oliver Nelson and Charles Mingus, as well as many modern composers that most audiences have never heard of, but who deserve to have their works played along side those of the acknowledged masters.

RH: What are some other things you do for a living?

MB:  I am a college professor.  I have been on the School Music faculty at the University of Washington here in Seattle for 18 years.  I also perform as saxophonist in the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, and in several jazz groups around town, including my own quartet (the Michael Brockman Quartet) and the Clarence Acox Sextet.

RH: Seattle is becoming a haven for talent. Are there some things you could share about some of the players involved with your org.?

MB: Seattle is indeed a hotbed of great jazz talent, and we have in the ranks of the SRJO many of the best players in the city.  Jay Thomas is one of our founding members, and he is acknowledged as the leading trumpet player in town. But we also have the great saxophonists Hadley Caliman (who recorded with Dexter Gordon, Eric Dolphy, Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, and Carlos Santana) and Bill Ramsay (who toured with the Basie Band, Thad Jones, Grover Mitchell, Cab Calloway, Mel Lewis, Gene Harris, and the Benny Goodman Octet). Our bassist is Phil Sparks (the leading player in town), and of course, my co-director Clarence Acox, who is a stellar drummer.  These are all hall-of-fame stars in our area. We also have a lot of the best young talent in town--Mark Taylor on alto, Thomas Marriott on trumpet, Travis Ranney on tenor, and a lot more...how much time have you got?

RH: What are some things SRJO does educationally?

MB:  We are trying to do many things to reach out educationally. To begin with, most everyone in the band works with youngsters by teaching privately. This is a very important issue, because there is a strong tradition in Seattle of the leading jazz players passing on their craft by teaching kids private lessons.  That is tough work, and takes dedication.  Also, several of our band members work in schools: Acox runs the Garfield High School bands--considered to be the top high school program in the nation, and Scott Brown leads the Roosevelt High School band--which is probably #2 in the nation.  We have faculty from the UW and from the renowned Cornish College, and more.

We have capitalized on all our educational expertise by creating the "SRJO Jazz Scholars Program."  This has been underwritten by two local charitable foundations, and it provides private lessons, free-of-charge, to local kids in under-served school band programs.  If the young player needs an instrument, we have a number that have been donated by our audience members, restored to playing condition by a local music store, Mills Music. This program will grow to serve around 50 kids over the next three years.

RH: I was reading about your “Jazz4Kids” program. How did this come about, and how is it going?

MB: Our Jazz4Kids concerts are provided free-of-charge to all kids, PLUS any parent, grandparent, sibling, teacher, or youth group leader bringing them to the concert.  The idea is to break down all barriers to kids attending an SRJO concert. We believe this is the only way to build future audiences, and all art groups should do the same.  All artists have a responsibility to help kids understand that live performance is better than staying at home and watching television.  We've done the Jazz4Kids concert annually for seven years. The concerts are "sell-outs" in that we run out of the free tickets weeks in advance of the show, and we have a full house every time.  Those concerts are great fun because the kids get handle real instruments in the lobby, and they get to ask questions from the audience, and just be kids--all in the setting of a beautiful downtown concert hall.

RH: The Sacred Music of Duke Ellington recording is marvelous. Can you take us through some of the process on how this project came to fruition?

"Every man prays in his own language, and there is no language that God does not understand."–Duke Ellington The two-CD set is a collection of the SRJO's best recordings made at concerts between 2001 and 2005 in performance at the annual Duke Ellington Sacred Music Concert presented each year by Earshot Jazz. The three Sacred Music Concerts that Ellington premiered in 1965, 1968, and 1973, and were the culmination of the last, liturgical phase of his life's work. Highlights include the epic pieces "Praise God and Dance" and "In the Beginning God," the spirited "Ninety-Nine Percent" and "Don't Get Down on Your Knees to Pray Until You Have Forgiven Everyone," and the stirring ballads "Heaven" and "Too Good to Title." Special guests on the recording include internationally renowned jazz singer Dee Daniels, Seattle vocal stars James Caddell and Nichol Eskridge, and the award winning Oregon Repertory Singers. Also featured are SRJO soloists, including pianist Larry Fuller, trumpeters Jay Thomas and Thomas Marriott, saxophonists Hadley Caliman, Bill Ramsay and Mark Taylor, and bassist Phil Sparks, plus the SRJO's two artistic directors, saxophonist Michael Brockman and drummer Clarence Acox.

MB: This recording represents around a 20-year labor of love for me, beginning with transcription work I did at the New England Conservatory (where Gunther Schuller had begun a grand tradition of repertory jazz).  I have transcribed dozens of rare and unpublished jazz scores from vintage recordings for my bands.

 In 1989, a special concert was held here in Seattle, organized around an all-star group of local musicians to present sacred music by Duke Ellington, with pieces drawn from his three Sacred Music Concerts. The scores we rented from New York arrived, and they were a horrible mix of scratchy-looking copies and sketched parts. Some of us in the band endeavored to re-write the parts, and I transcribed Ellington's "Freedom Suite" plus several other works. 

This formed the early body of pieces that the SRJO now plays as a holiday tradition that has lasted 17 years. The Concert of Sacred Music by Ellington is presented annually by Seattle's Earshot Jazz Society, performed by the SRJO with special guests such as singers Dee Daniels, James Caddell and Nichol Eskridge, plus tap dancers and choir.  Two years ago we began collaborating with the Oregon Repertory Singers, a first-class choir from Portland.  It has become a holiday tradition for music lovers in Seattle--sort of like "The Nutcracker" for the rest of us.

We have taken the best recordings from the past three years of this concert, and mixed it down into a two-CD set of what we feel are the best pieces drawn from Ellington's three sacred concerts. All the artists involved turned in great performances, and the sound is a fresh, new look at these marvelous works by Ellington. I think it represents the best of what "repertory jazz" is all about: playing great works in their original form, but with an updated interpretation. The CD set breathes new life into Duke's wonderful creations.

RH:  How do you see the State of Jazz in 2006? Do you believe the educational system is working?

MB:  The state of jazz is overwhelmingly strong.  Just turn on the radio!  There are hot, new, young and creative players coming out of the woodwork from every corner of the world, and they play really well.  The educational system for jazz music in the USA is doing a great job--we are training players in 4 or 5 years to do what used to take 15 years.  The biggest problem is that too many music graduates are coming out of the colleges and universities with great playing and writing skills, but not enough real-life experience on the stage in front of a critical, paying audience.  The great jazz artists in our history all got there after years and years on the professional stage (not the auditorium of their colleges).  Yet, there is no easy way to gain that professional experience, other than putting yourself out in the market and struggling to make a living. At the UW we are forcing our students to go out and play gigs--lots of them--before they graduate. It's working.

RH:  What are some things the Jazz community needs to think about in keeping Jazz a viable, accessible art form?

MB: The jazz communities around the USA need to focus on supporting the local jazz artists in their own regions.  It's self-destructive for all of us to ignore our local artists in favor of constantly importing "name" players from New York City.  I've spent lots of time in NYC, and we all know there's an unbelievable concentration of the world's greatest jazz artists there. It's the capital city of jazz, and probably always will be.  But if you want a truly vital, artistic culture in your own city, you must also support your local artists who are there, in the trenches, making art.  So we need to mix it up!  Present your local artists AND the nationally known artists.  Seattle does this, and our audiences understand that we have many local players who are New York quality, but don't choose to live there. We've figured out that our local players are worth featuring in the clubs, in festivals, and on the radio.  Of course, when a NY group comes to Seattle, they show us how they do things "downtown" and that's always an education.  But in our region, at least, a kid can grow up knowing that with enough desire and drive, and a chance to develop locally, he/she could go make it in NYC, because there is a healthy local scene in which to learn. 

RH:  Does the organization have goals for both the creation of new music as well as presenting important works in Jazz history?

MB:  Absolutely. We are commissioning a new work almost yearly.  This is a vital part of keeping the art form current and thriving.  We need to encourage young writers and support veteran writers by featuring their work along side that of the household names.  That way, audiences hear firsthand that great jazz (and more to the point, great big band jazz) is still being created in our day and age, not just the past.

RH: What are some future goals of SRJO?

MB:  We have plans to tour the west coast cities, and get out to more festivals around the country.  We also have several more recordings in mind--works by under-appreciated masters of the past, and some of the new works we have commissioned.  We are also gearing up to publish scores for some of the rare pieces we have uncovered and performed --great American works that should be played and appreciated around the world. 

We are also really want to expand our education programs--not to take the place of what the schools and universities are doing, but to bring a level of authentic experience to what the kids are taught. Working side-by-side with professional musicians is the element that is still missing from the training of most young jazz players.  We are certainly not the first to think of this, but we are trying valiantly to press this idea with our local power-that-be, so they help pay for this to happen.

RH: I’m told all the time, the Big Band ensemble is a dead vehicle. It is one of the most exciting ensembles, in my opinion. Can this 17 piece ensemble survive another 100 years? If so, what must we do to preserve this ensemble in the National community?

MB:  Well that is nonsense.  What we are talking about here is "the great American jazz orchestra."  This is one of the most important artistic developments of the last century, and it is not going away (I am a bit evangelistic about this stuff).  The problem is merely this: unlike most other types of ensembles, a big band performance is twenty times more exciting when heard live than it is on record.  The same thrill one gets from experiencing the live performance of a symphony orchestra or a concert choir is gained by hearing an entire jazz big band on stage.  The future of any large ensemble lies in getting that message out to the public--and then making it as easy as possible for people to attend concerts with free tickets, bus rides, free parking, whatever it takes.  It is the job of every musician, artist, community leader, educator, and arts administrator to get Americans to turn off their stupid TVs and computers, and go out to experience the thrill of great music played by live musicians. 

There is also this: jazz is improvisational music. To the extent that big band music does not leave plenty of room for improvisation, it stops being jazz.  Big band writers and band leaders need to keep this in mind.  Every jazz player has his/her own individual personality, and if you want great jazz musicians to play your music, you must use the big band as a vehicle (and a very powerful one, at that) for the improvisation of individual players. 

RH: Thanks for your time. And we appreciate your insight and taking time to share some great happenings in the great Northwest.

For more information about SRJO, please visit: SRJO.org

Author's Notes:

This interview is loaded! The questions were calculated. The calculation was created because I believed Brockman had a unique perspective and opinion that needed to be heard. I urge musicians to collaborate, compromise, and take action with one another to make some special things happen in your community. The Jazz idiom is in need of leadership in many locales.

There are always ways to finance and support American institutions. Jazz is one of America’s greatest artistic institutions we’ve made to the world. In some cases people will need to be educated, but please, never underestimate of the “power’ of live events. Television and internet cannot recreate “live” music, and have no ability for giving us the real affect spontaneous creativity. The “Art” is in our hands, in a country loaded in an abundance of financial resources. It takes visionaries in our communities to “want” to make the difference for our youth in our respective locales.

In behalf of JR247, I want to thank Bruce Forman and Michael Brockman to take the time to visit with our listening and viewing audience.