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Jazz pianist adds outreach, education to programs
By Rebecca Cline Howard
Deseret News music critic
The Olympics mean many things to many people. To some, it's all about excellence in sports, but for many, the concept of excellence and achievement spreads to the arts.
As a participant in the Cultural Olympiad, jazz-pianist Marcus Roberts is expanding that concept further, adding community outreach and educational activities to his scheduled performances.
Roberts told the Deseret News that he would be doing some residency activities with a wide range of audiences, including young children, high school musicians, senior citizens and the general public. His goal, he says, is "to connect with people without exploiting them."
He added, "The most important thing is you want to give the public a view of itself that they don't have to get a dictionary out to understand. When they come out to a show, you want to give them something real and something that has some substance, but you don't want to feel like they're somehow inferior to what's going on the bandstand. Playing the blues and swingin' is what allows that connection to happen that just makes people feel at home."
Roberts compared it with cooking a great meal: "Maybe you studied cooking for 10 years, but all the person knows is that 'I don't know what's in this food, I just know that it's really hip. I know there are 10 ingredients, but I just can't tell exactly what each one is here.' And if it's really good, they won't care."
Roberts will begin his first residency in Provo on with two outreach activities. One will be a solo performance at the Provo Senior Center, and the other will be a jazz master class at Brigham Young University.
Thursday, Feb. 14, Roberts will present a Valentine's Day "Rhythm and Romance" concert in the de Jong Concert Hall at 7:30 p.m. The program will feature songs popularized by Nat King Cole and compositions by popular American songwriters Cole Porter, George Gershwin and Rodgers and Hart, and jazz works by Thelonious Monk and Louis Armstrong — as well as some of his own compositions.
Roberts will return to Utah in March for a second residency in Salt Lake City, in connection with the Cultural Olympiad's Kennedy Center "Imagination Celebration." Roberts will be working with jazz-band students at Highland High School the week of March 4-8.
In addition, Roberts will present educational programs for students at Beacon Heights, Parkview and Nibley Park elementary schools. He said he would be explaining basic jazz concepts and playing for the children. "Just to whet their appetites. For some, it will be like the first time they had broccoli, and for others it will be, like, 'yeah.'
"But 10 years later, you just never know. There could be a connection there. I feel strongly that the (elementary education) component is very important."
Roberts' second visit will conclude on March 15 with a performance with the Utah Symphony, as part of the Cultural Olympiad.
"It's going to expose a lot of people to jazz," Roberts said, "and hopefully get them to realize that people don't have to be hip enough for us; we have to be hip enough for them. In that way, when people leave a show or a workshop or a clinic or any educational thing, they leave feeling much more connected. I think that's one of the things that in jazz we have to strive for."
E-MAIL: rcline@desnews.com
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February 12, 2002
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