Masters of Jazz: The Next Generation

“My job in life is to teach people the way I was taught. To give them what I was given. You can’t keep it unless you give it away.” – Thara Memory

As founder of the American Music Program in Portland, Oregon, jazz trumpeter, conductor, educator and composer Thara Memory is inspiring a new generation of jazz musicians though his commitment to education and mentorship. His nationally recognized magnet school educates seventh to twelfth grade students in American jazz music.

In “Masters of Jazz: The Next Generation, Oregon Art Beat profiles Memory’s work and explores the important relationship between mentor and mentee. Viewers get a closer look inside Memory’s classroom, where he rigorously prepares young musicians for some of the top performing arts colleges in the country and gives them a deeper understanding of the art of jazz.

Read more: http://www.pbs.org/black-culture/shows/list/famous-jazz-musicians-mentors-and-mentees/