Jazz

Professor Jazz: A Talk With Jim Ketch

Jim Ketch, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Music Department, enjoys an active career as a performer in both the jazz and classical idioms. He has served as a member of the faculty at UNC-CH since 1977, being honored on two different occasions for his outstanding teaching. In 1992, Professor Ketch received the university’s Tanner Award for outstanding undergraduate teaching, and during the period 1993-1996 Ketch was appointed Bowman and Gordon Gray Associate Professor of Music, again receiving recognition for outstanding teaching. Recently, he took some time out of his busy schedule to talk with NC Arts.

NC Arts: What is North Carolina’s place in the jazz world — historically as well as today?

Jim Ketch: North Carolina occupies a significant place in the constellation of jazz history. Two of the most influential of all jazz musicians, Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane, were born in North Carolina. Monk was born in Rocky Mount. His 73 compositions pale in number to (Duke) Ellington’s some 2000, yet Monk’s stature among all who have been born in the modern jazz era, which is from the mid-1940s on, is supreme and unshakeable. His compositions perhaps capture the American persona as well in modern times as Ellington’s did in the ‘20s and ‘30s. John Coltrane stands beside Louis Armstrong and Charlie Parker as one of the greatest of all jazz soloists and is the most important post-modern jazz improviser.
With all that said, perhaps our current strength in North Carolina resides in the active jazz programs at the various colleges: Paul Jeffrey at Duke, myself and Scott Warner at UNC-Chapel Hill, Dr. Ira Wiggins and Arnold George at N.C. Central University, Professor Carroll Dashiell at East Carolina University, Professor Frank Bongiorno at UNC-Wilmington, and Professor Steve Haines at UNC-Greensboro, to name just a few. These are very dedicated professionals and educators who have worked hard to preserve jazz in the state through teaching, festivals, symposia, workshops, and clinics. Together we are bringing great jazz artists to the campuses. UNC-CH alone has had Clark Terry, Lincoln Center Jazz, Wynton Marsalis, Tommy Flanagan, Kenny Burrell, McCoy Tyner, the Heath Brothers, Kevin Mahogany, and others in the last 5 years.

NC Arts: There certainly is a lot to do around our state that is jazz-related. Are you seeing that reflected in the number of students enrolled in your program?

Jim Ketch: Yes, indeed. Students are attracted to jazz because jazz has a strong intellectual component that is equally matched by the strong expressive content of the music. Jazz improvisation is a stimulating area to study. We have historical models, theoretical practices, and yet all of that can be discounted in an argument by someone who says jazz is the freedom of self-expression. It is no wonder that a student, if given a chance to study at a great university, might also be wooed to the siren call of jazz. Why shouldn’t an honors student in history also happen to be a great tenor saxophonist as well!

NC Arts: Are there any trends that you see? Any one form of jazz edging others out in popularity recently?
Jim Ketch: The entreprenuership of the business world manifests itself daily in the music industry. Young musicians in a band set out to create their sound and they have the power to record, produce, distribute their own musical materials. For instance, my N.C. Jazz Repertory Orchestra CDs are available through Amazon.com. Jazz musicians have such good training and ear development that anyone interested in jazz, pop, commercial, rock, hip-hop, and rap could likely benefit from listening, studying and playing jazz. Many of my students have their own bands. They gig, they record, they travel — all while being music, history, or international studies majors. In jazz, one should imitate, then assimilate, and then innovate. I like to feel that those who pay their dues in jazz will have a deeper well from which to draw upon their own musical resources.

NC Arts: How are music educators translating those trends to the classroom?

Jim Ketch: At UNC we have created new classes and more ensembles. These student performing groups do more and accomplish more. When I joined the UNC faculty in 1977 we had one jazz band (a big band) and one jazz history class (for non-majors only). We now have six ensembles — two big bands, and four combos. We now have a jazz concentration of 15 hours that can be part of one’s bachelor of arts or bachelor of music degree. We also have a minor in jazz studies. Students may now study jazz improvisation, jazz history, jazz theory and harmony, jazz arranging and composition. The students have recorded two CDs and have, as a result of invitations, performed at three of Europe’s most prestigious summer jazz festivals.

NC Arts: How does the N.C. Arts Council help in getting jazz out “to the people”?

Jim Ketch: Our state Arts Council is a good friend to jazz. Through its touring program, jazz artists have opportunities to perform throughout the state. Through the composer grants, our strong home-based jazz musicians like Ed Paolantonio, Gregg Gelb, and Ron Rudkin, to name a few, can get necessary funding to record and produce their music. My own group, the North Carolina Jazz Repertory Orchestra, receives a most valuable rehearsal and operations grant from the N.C. Arts Council that makes it possible for me to pay my musicians something for rehearsing. Some of these people drive 240 miles round trip for a Monday night rehearsal at UNC!