Living in Berkeley, it’s easy to take
the Berkeley High jazz program for granted. Every few years, a new generation
of ambitious students emerges from the jazz ensemble and heads off to music
programs in New York, Boston and Los Angeles.
Since the mid 1970s, no high school in the United States has produced
more world-class jazz talent than Berkeley High.
A short, and by no means complete, list of major artists who describe
their BHJB experience as essential to their creative development includes
multi-instrumentalist Peter Apfelbaum, trumpeters Steve Bernstein, Ambrose
Akinmusire and Jonathan Finlayson, saxophonists Craig Handy, Joshua Redman,
Jessica Jones and Dayna Stephens, and pianists Benny Green and Julian Pollack.
This prodigious track record would be remarkable for any institution,
but in the case of Berkeley High, it takes place against a backdrop of steadily
declining support for the arts in California’s public schools post-Proposition
13.
Even more impressive is the fact that Berkeley High isn’t an arts
magnet, unlike other public school programs that have produced an impressive
roster of jazz alumni, such as Houston’s High School for the Performing and
Visual Arts or Los Angeles’ High School for the Arts.
The illustrious past and promising present of Berkeley High jazz come
together on Saturday at Jupiter with
a double bill. Directed by Sarah Cline, the Berkeley High
Jazz Ensemble kicks off the new school year with
fresh faces and a returning cast of stand out players, such as flutist/vocalist
Elena Pinderhughes. After their set, the high schoolers can take in a show by
saxophonist Joshi Marshall and the BHS Alumni All-Stars.
A mainstay on the Bay Area music scene for more than two decades,
Marshall was in the thick of the acid jazz action in the early 1990s, playing
and recording with Groove Shop, Daddy Goddess, Human Flavor, The Mo’fessionals,
Jungle Biskit, Alphabet Soup and Bop City. He’s probably best known as a
founding member of Mingus Amungus, the rambunctious hip-hop inflected jazz
combo led by bassist Miles Perkins (another BHS alum).
The double bill neatly captures the way in which the Berkeley High jazz
program has become self-sustaining, with proud graduates maintaining close alma
mater ties, providing information and inspiration to today’s students.
Listen to the Berkeley High Jazz Ensemble playing
“Blues Around the Corner” by R. Cornish, recorded at Fantasy
Studios.
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