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Reno Jazz Festival celebrates 45 years

by Sarah Purdy

The Reno Jazz Festival at the University of Nevada, Reno has long been recognized as both a large-scale educational outreach event and a venue for some of the finest jazz performers in the world. Surveys have shown it also brings millions of dollars into the local economy and thousands of visitors to the community for three days each spring.

This year’s festival, slated for April 26-28 on the University campus, promises to be no exception. Critically acclaimed guest artists Randy Brecker and the John Scofield Trio, along with more than 40 renowned musicians and educators from across the nation, will be on hand to instruct and entertain the festival’s 10,000 attendees.

“But what it’s really about is the students,” said festival director, educator and jazz musician, Larry Engstrom, who also is director of the University’s School of the Arts.

As one of the largest festivals of its kind in the nation, the 2007 Reno Jazz Festival will welcome more than 9,500 student musicians participating in 330 college, high school and middle school jazz groups from throughout the West. The young musicians will compete, receive feedback from professional musicians, participate in professional clinics and workshops, and attend performances given by peers and jazz luminaries.

The festival’s educational mission is so important, in fact, that organizers invite only those big-name guest artists who are committed to presenting workshops to students.

“We believe the interaction between student and professional musician is key to providing the highest-caliber educational experience possible,” Engstrom said.

Over the years, students have been instructed by and performed with such jazz legends as Charlie Haden, Bobby Hutcherson, Peter Erskine, Michael Brecker, the Yellowjackets, Ingrid Jensen, Arturo Sandoval, Carl Fontana and Joe Lovano.

“The combination of personal feedback, workshops and concerts is what makes this festival truly valuable to young musicians. The quality of the clinicians and professional musicians who share their expertise, the number of attendees and participants we have and the efficiency with which the University hosts the festival make it unlike any other,” Engstrom said.

Jazz vocalist and recording artist Madeline Eastman, head of the vocal department at the Stanford Jazz Workshop, agrees. Eastman has adjudicated at the Reno Jazz Festival for nearly a decade, and says the festival’s value to jazz students and to the future of the genre is “immeasurable.”

“It is the future of jazz, literally, and I’m happy to be a part of it,” Eastman said. “I love seeing the new young talent and seeing how hard everyone works, and knowing that the future of jazz is in good hands.

“I do this all over the world, and this is one of the best-attended festivals for vocal groups -- it’s really a thrill to do it. The Reno Jazz Festival is unique in that it brings in great teachers and great professional musicians. The level of talent and expertise among faculty, adjudicators and performers is very high.”

Eastman’s take on the event is music to Engstrom’s ears. For the past 17 years, he has been intimately involved in organizing the festival. Before that, he participated as a high school student and as a student from California State University at Fresno.

At this year’s festival, more than 40 legendary jazz scholars and performers will adjudicate student performances and teach clinics and workshops, including Willie Hill, director of the Fine Arts Center at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and past president of the National Association for Music Education and International Association for Jazz Education; saxophonist and composer Tim Ries; pianist and composer David Roitstein, co-founder and chair of jazz studies at CalArts School of Music; and trumpeter and big-band director Mike Vax; pianist and composer Laura Caviani.

For attendees, the attention to detail and commitment to excellence that Engstrom and festival organizers insist on creates a unique experience in jazz education.

“The Reno Jazz Festival experience has always been fantastic,” said jazz educator Ike Jenkins. “I’ve been attending since the early ’70s, taking junior high school bands and high school bands, combos and jazz choirs. My students have gained invaluable experience and knowledge because of the great educators, adjudicators and peers who attend this festival.

“Many noncompetitive festivals, while enjoyable, don’t encourage and inspire excellence. For young students to recognize and appreciate their peers who are also interested in jazz music is very important as they prepare for their future in music and in life.”

Now in its 45th year, the Reno Jazz Festival has quadrupled in size over the past 17 years, and currently utilizes nearly every available inch of space at the University of Nevada, Reno. While Engstrom says additional growth will be impossible until the University adds new buildings, the festival will continue to improve upon its strengths and strive to maintain its standards of excellence, continually finding ways to better serve the future of jazz.

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