Blogging these days is slow for many reasons, one being that I’ve accepted a position as adjunct lecturer in jazz history at the Aaron Copland School of Music, Queens College. My course begins August 30, and I’ve been hard at work preparing. Very hard at work. One consequence is the growing stack of new and unlistened-to CD releases near my desk. Sorry, but I’m spending much more time in the 1920s than the 2010s right now. Forget “mossy stone” — I think I might be a moldy fig.
Kidding.
Teaching jazz history is a heavy responsibility, made even heavier by the fact that Queens College administers the Louis Armstrong House Museum (pictured, in earlier days) and the Armstrong archives. I’m thus all the more honored to be involved with the school and its fine jazz faculty.
My textbook for the course will be Jazz by Gary Giddins and Scott DeVeaux. “Jazz history is in the making,” the authors write, and I can’t think of a better motto to guide us through the coming semester.
2 Comments
Good luck ramping up! In my years of teaching Jazz History there’s one clip that comes to mind when thinking about a video my community college students have been consistently knocked out by. I hope you have a “smart” classroom (one that has internet you can project onto a screen).
Max Roach-Hi Hat
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8syiOwwVyY
Congratulations, David, on your new position at Queens college. They boast a stellar faculty indeed, in addition to curating the Louis Armstrong House Museum–the ultimate jazz history street cred. I’ve also found the Giddins/DeVeaux book “Jazz” to be a real gem. The authors give just enough technical description to get to the meat of the music without venturing into jazz nerdiness. They also combine the musical developments with the social aspects of musicians lives. When I teach jazz history (usually lectures on the development of jazz bass playing), I find it important to combine music with the ‘story’ behind the music–either personal, social, technological or business.
Here’s wishing you engaged students and lots of good listening!