DODDS musicians get the chance to jazz it up in seminar

By JENNIFER H. SVAN, Stars and Stripes, Published: January 16, 2013

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany — About an hour into rehearsal Tuesday morning, Jiggs Whigham tells the teenagers on stage to “put your horns down and stand up, please.”

The world-renowned jazz trombonist and music professor tells them to extend and hold their arms out to their sides. At first, the task seems easy, Whigham says.

“Anyone can play four bars in a row without making a mistake — that’s no great shakes,” he tells the students participating in the DODDS-Europe Honor Jazz Seminar. But “playing a whole arrangement” with its many notes and complexity is much more difficult and requires undivided attention, he said.

“I don’t want you thinking about your girlfriend, the pizza, what you ate for breakfast,” he said. “It’s about the music. It’s only about the music.”

The rare chance to shut out everything but the music and sing and play with their peers is what makes the jazz seminar special for the 34 students who auditioned and were selected for a seat in the band or a turn at the microphone in the week-long program.

About 170 students applied for the seminar, now in its 30th year, said Hope Matthews, DODDS-Europe fine arts coordinator.

“It is the joy of making music together and at a level that these kids don’t get in their regular high school experiences,” said Rebecca Brashier, the seminar’s vocal ensemble director.

“You don’t have to be a jazz musician to come here,” said Jeff Pellaton, the seminar’s music director. “You have to be a good musician. If you can play your horn, you can fit in.”
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