Jazz Lab Band and Ron Miles at JazzFest 48’s Saturday Evening Concert (Photo credit: Adam Boyles, 2016. Courtesy of the photographer)
JazzFest 48 was held on February 26-27, 2016, with featured guest artist and cornet player, Ron Miles. Originally, jazz trumpeter, Claudio Roditi, was set as the guest artist, but due to sudden health issues, he was unable to attended. As TSU jazz director Tim AuBuchon tells me, Miles was on his “short list” of trumpet players to have for JazzFest and he felt lucky to be able to book him on such short notice.
He had been here in 2005, I think, actually subbing for someone then. We had the Matt Wilson Arts and Crafts Quartet and, at that time, usually Terrell Stafford was the trumpeter and he couldn’t make that one and so Ron Miles came in and I thought he was great so I’ve been wanting to get him back just as a solo artist at some point. So it worked out that he could make it, just barely, with his schedule. So I was happy. Usually if you call people like that a month out they’re just going to say, “Oh, sorry, I’m in the Tokyo Jazz Festival” or whatever. “I’m doing something interesting and have been for a long time. Maybe next year.”
Read More
In addition to his role as jazz director and music educator, AuBuchon plays a major role in the organization of the festival. His biggest job is booking the guest artists, which he must do at least a year in advance, and interacting with them to “figure out all the musical details.” He also talks with agents about travel and other contractual details, but this is where AuBuchon says his duties end and the duties for PMA brothers begins.
They do a lot of the organization and almost all of the actual work (laughs). Just a small sampler of things that goes through my head: they get t-shirts to sell, they arrange for the posters… They help bands around, …they watch the homerooms, they book all the rooms in advance…. So they do lots of stuff with it; they do mailings to the schools to sort of advertise, they set up and tear down. Yeah, like all of the real work is done by them. (Sarcastically) I get the fun parts, and they do all the other stuff, (sincerely) which I think they think is fun once it’s done and possibly while they’re doing it. But yeah, they do great work…. [I]t wouldn’t be possible to run the festival without them—there just wouldn’t be one.
Among many of PMA’s members, 2015-2016 chapter president Ryan Staines and 2015-2016 JazzFest officer Zach Green play vital roles in JazzFest’s organization to ensure its success. Ryan modestly admits to having a more general role in the festival, though he takes care of a significant portion of the paperwork and other behind-the-scene duties throughout the year. Along with other members of PMA, he also escorts visiting bands around for 2-4 hours, depending on the year’s attendance. On the other hand, Zach plays a more active role in the festival:
My role is to basically be in charge of everything that Mr. A isn’t. So… I’m in charge of getting funding; we usually get funding from FAC, MAC, and Kirksville Tourism. I’m in charge of getting the bands, so high school/middle school jazz ensembles and combos. I’m in charge of all the media, which, luckily, I was able to get someone else to do…. So that’s the next thing, delegating the things that I can’t do or just shouldn’t do because other people… step up and do things. [I’m also in charge of p]romotion for the festival and then organizing the PMA chapter work schedule so they can execute the festival. [During the festival,] I just kind of stand there and fix problems.
(Video credit to Justin Borgstede, J. Borg Media, 2016. Courtesy of the videographer.)
Guest Artist Ron Miles
Ron Miles (left) rehearses with the the TSU Jazz Ensemble (Photo by author)
Miles is a jazz musician and educator based out of Denver, CO. He has played jazz since middle school and studied music at the University of Denver and the Manhattan School of Music. According to the JazzFest 48 program notes, “Miles says that living in Denver has given him an appreciation for a broad array of musical styles that he might not have acquired elsewhere. ‘Country and Western music, Latin, jazz, and rock are all popular here, so you find yourself trying out a lot of ideas with other musicians and gaining a healthy respect for the music,’ he explains.”
He has collaborated with a very diverse group of famed musicians such as Bill Frisell, Ginger Baker, Myra Melford, Joshua Redman, and the Ellington Orchestra, among many others, and recorded multiple albums over the past two decades. Miles is popular in the Denver jazz scene and, when not touring, he teaches music at Metropolitan State University in Denver, CO, where he has lived since the age of 11. As such, he is as much of an educator as a musician, so he was the ideal candidate to work with the TSU jazz students.
Ron Miles speaking with assistant director Christian Pierce during Jazz Lab Band rehearsal (Photo by author)
