Frank Mantooth to Receive IAJE Award

The International Association of Jazz Educators conference begins tomorrow January 10. Although I have been to past conferences I will not be making it to New York this year unfortunately.  The conference will be awesome I'm sure as it always is so I envy those of you who will be in attendance.

One thing I wanted to make note of here is that my good friend and sorely missed arranging buddy, the late Frank Mantooth,  will be receiving the International Association of Jazz educators Hall of Fame award for jazz education.

The award will be presented posthumously to Mantooth's family, his wife Carrie and son Matt Mantooth, during the IAJE Annual Conference. The purpose of the Hall of Fame is to honor those individuals whose musical contributions and dedication to jazz education over the past 25 years have created new directions and curricular innovations for jazz education worldwide.

Frank certainly deserves this award. His contributions to jazz education through his charts and books are enormous. He published over 100 charts and numerous jazz education books during his lifetime.  I consider his book Voicings for Jazz Keyboard to be the best around and I use the concepts Frank lays out in that book all the time when teaching students simple ways to construct chords for both piano playing and for arranging.

If you happen to make it to the IAJA this year, stop in to the award ceremony and say hi to Carrie and Matt Mantooth. Have fun!

Vinnie Colaiuto With Buddy Rich Big Band (Video)

One of the things that I always felt could make or break the performance of a big band chart is the ability of the drummer in the band. You can get by with an occasional mediocre player in almost any chair (except maybe the bass chair or lead trumpet) but the drummer, in my humble opinion, is what makes the whole band tick.

When I'm writing a big band chart I always keep in mind what the drummer will play at certain points of the chart, and I try to hear how certain fills (or least good ones) will set up the band for shout choruses, climax sections, etc. The drummer should be responsible for not only time and feel but also for setting up band hits, and preparing the listener for what is about to happen next within the chart. The drummer has the responsibility of making the whole chart sound as a cohesive whole.

You can usually tell when a drummer only has experience playing in small groups like quartets and quintets. They often lack the ability to drive the band and take control of the horn players. Great drummers can also make everyone else in the band play better. When time is strong and the drummer sets up horn lines and hits, the brass and reeds tend to have more confidence in their own parts. I can almost guarantee you that if you stuck the late Buddy Rich in any high school or college band, the band as a whole would immediately sound 50% better.

Below is a video I stumbled across a Vinnie Colaiuta, one of the best all around drummers in the world. I am not sure of the origin of this video, or if it was even filmed while body was still alive. It looks like it's early 80s or late 70s. This guy plays like Buddy Rich on steroids! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. If anyone knows details of this video, leave a comment.