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• 1 media/4367175385_0b1a59806b_b.jpg media/terence_slide-59f4991771db5dc5241fd42497e10a7075970db6-s900-c85.jpg 2017-04-25T10:48:25-07:00 Introduction 59 An examination of the shift from mentorship to institutionalized jazz education image_header 2017-05-11T14:53:18-07:00
  What is digital humanities?
  Digital humanities (DH) is a field in which researchers and teachers utilize computerized/digitized resources to accumulate and analyze information pertaining to the human experience from antiquity to the modernity. It is a dynamic field; constantly adapting to meet the evolving needs of those who wish to utilize DH resources as a provocative academic resource. As the print medium is supplanted by digitalized media, humanity projects must adapt to the digital to maintain accessibility, engage desired populations and distribute important information in a modern, effective manner.
  
  The Jazz Mentorship Project
  In this anecdotally-based Jazz DH project, you will explore how mentorship has influenced jazz education by instrumental type and temporally. You will be pushed to confront the following questions:  How did mentorship influence the early jazz musicians in becoming the notable jazz icons of the 21st centuries? Are jazz mentorships losing influence as jazz education has integrated into the classroom over the last 50 years? Is the passage of jazz via mentorship completely lost in our modern education system (e.g. college courses focused on jazz theory and composition)? To address these questions, we examine five jazz musicians thoughts on mentorship (sometimes referred to as apprenticeship) through their interviews with Monk Rowe and Michael Woods, directors of the Hamilton College Jazz Archive.  These jazz musicians include bassist Buster Williams, vocalist Germaine Bazzle, cornetist Bob Schulz, clarinetist Allan Vache, and violinist Claude "Fiddler" Williams. Through these interviews, you will investigate what has prompted the shift in jazz education from jazz's mentorship roots to a more institutionalized  education. Additionally, you will be introduced to on-going efforts to return the mentorship-based jazz education within the confines of formal jazz education, such as the Jazz Education Network Program.
  
  As you will soon read and hear, traditional jazz education in the form of mentorship was inherently personal. Thus, institutionalization of jazz education and thought coincides with the loss what jazz was meant to represent for early musicians. The loss of intimacy in jazz education may be one of the reasons jazz seems to be lost in popularity in modern American culture, as musicians maintain more superficial relationships with peers and tend to learn in a more impersonal manner as compared to previous generations.
  
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  Table of Contents
  1. Evolution of Jazz Mentorship
  2. Introduction
  3. History of Jazz Education and Mentorship
  4. Buster Williams
  5. Germaine Bazzle
  6. Bob Schulz
  7. Allan Vache
  8. Claude Williams
  9. Race in Jazz Education and DH
  10. Modern Mentorship
  11. Our Other DH Method
  12. Conclusion
  13. Additional Works Cited ​
  14. Annotated Bibliography
  15. Process
  16. Rubric

   
• 1 media/4367175385_0b1a59806b_b.jpg media/claude-williams-1-1.jpg 2017-05-03T15:28:11-07:00 Claude "Fiddler" Williams 3 plain 2017-05-03T15:30:22-07:00

  Claude “Fiddler” Williams was born on February 22, 1908 in Muskogee, Oklahoma. He started playing guitar at the age of 10, learning the basics and listening to his brother-in-law. He says, “Well my brother-in-law was, knew quite a bit about strings and he started me out on, you know, we used to sit around the house and play old Blues on guitar, and I’d watch him. And when he’d put the guitar down I’d pick it up and play Blues. And he saw that I was interested, and he went and bought a mandolin and he would pick the melody on the mandolin and show me the changes on the guitar”. After learning string instruments like guitar, mandolin and cello, he got interested in playing the violin after hearing Joe Venuti play. Venuti was revolutionary in bringing violin into the realm of jazz, and became quite famous throughout the 1920s and 30s for his “hot” violin solos.

  As he got older and more into jazz, Williams moved to Kansas City, Missouri, where he spent most of the rest of his life. Throughout his career, he was a part of many groups. His first professional experience was in 1927, when he played in the successful band Clouds of Joy. He later worked with Alphonse Trent and an array of other acclaimed artists like Mary Lou Williams, Nat “King” Cole, George E. Lee, Freddie Green, and more. After years of touring with different people, in 1953 he settled back in Kansas City where he spent the next 20 years leading an array of different groups but not making any records. His career was revived when he toured with Jay McShann in the 70s and 80s, performing as a soloist at jazz festivals. In the 90s, he was solidified as a star, being featured on CBS News Sunday Morning, performing at Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Center, even even playing at the first inauguration of President Bill Clinton. Though in his 90s, he remained active and continued to play until his death in 2004 at the age of 96.