“People keep asking me who my new bandleader is going to be.” Colbert says in a YouTube video announcing the choice. Then he points at Batiste and says “Well, I like this guy.” CBS News quoted Batiste saying, “I’m thrilled! This is a match made in heaven. Get ready for a love riot in late night.”

KUSP jazz fans might remember Batiste and his ‘Stay Human’ band’s performance at last year’s Monterey Jazz Festival. That set concluded with Batiste leading the band on a parade through the audience still performing.

Listen to the KUSP interview with Batiste from the festival.  This next September we’ll be able to catch Batiste as bandleader on the new Late Show, hosted by Stephen Colbert.

Stay Human parades the entire length of the Arena at the Monterey Jazz Festival. Photo: Stephen Laufer / KUSP

Photo: Terry Green / KUSP

Photo: Terry Green / KUSP

Photo: Terry Green / KUSP

Photo: Terry Green / KUSP

Photo: Terry Green / KUSP

Photo: Terry Green / KUSP

Photo: Terry Green / KUSP

The KUSP crew arrived at the Monterey Conference Center for Saturday’s Next Generation Jazz Festival to be greeted by the sound of loud, brassy funk. I mean, LOUD. It wasn’t emanating from any of the performance spaces. Turns out it was coming from the designated JAM room (in the Juan Bautista de Anza room at the Conference Center). The young musicians from across the country who are here with their school bands are invited to wander into the de Anza room with their axes and, well, jam.

This funk-based group was horn-heavy and loosely led by a curly-haired trumpeter who directed the large volunteer ensemble in the manner of the great Butch Morris‘s early-80s Lower East Side avant-garde groups. Exhilarating, impromptu, expressive, all in the interstices of the official program.

Overheard as I walked out: “Dude, I don’t solo, I’m just here to mess around.”

It’s good to be back at the NextGen Festival! And it’s running until Sunday night. And it’s free!

James Francies. Photo: Laufer / KUSP

KUSP’s Jeff Dayton-Johnson and Terry Green pull off an interview in the storeroom, where a photo shoot also broke out.

Pianist James Francies spoke briefly with KUSP about where he’s been since we first encountered him at the 2013 MJF: he’s been subbing with the Roots, playing with drummers Chris Dave, Jeff Tain Watts; with pianist Robert Glasper; putting together his first record. KUSP only hopes that he’s managing to keep up with his schoolwork…

Listen above!

Read more…

Photo: Stephen Laufer / KUSP

Photo: Stephen Laufer / KUSP

Photo: Terry Green/ KUSP

Photo: Stephen Laufer / KUSP

Photo: Stephen Laufer / KUSP

Photo: Stephen Laufer / KUSP

Super drummer Matt Wilson gave a clinic Saturday afternoon at the Next Gen Jazz Festival. He played with three very young musicians who are all his students: vibes, alto sax and piano. He emphasized the importance of being an “allower” – on stage and in the creative process more generally. He took off his shirt dramatically to reveal an “Allower” t-shirt and donned a cape to add to the superhero allure of “allowing.” Allow others to be their best at all times. He attributes the lesson to tenor saxophonist Dewey Redman, in whose quartet Wilson drummed for many years: check Wilson out on the live Dewey Redman in London (Palmetto, 1996).

Photo: Laufer / KUSP

Pianist James Francies is at Next Gen this year to man the booth of the New School jazz program; he also accompanied drummer Matt Wilson‘s clinic on Saturday afternoon.

Francies displayed an astonishing level of empathy with Wilson and the other members of the quartet during the clinic; a testament, perhaps to all the hours they’ve clocked playing together. But then

Wilson called for volunteers, and a couple of students – a vibist and a drummer – came up on stage. Wilson gave them some instructions to improvise; as they did, Francies laid some harmony underneath the vibes that exhibited just as much empathy as he had with his regular bandmates. A moment of beauty and community, a ray of light; the reason we go to see live improvised music, ladies and gentlemen.

Holding the curtain down, as James Francies gets ready for the performance in 2013. Photo: Laufer / KUSP

Turns out, we’ve crossed paths with James before – he accompanied drummer Eric Harland at Next Gen last year. And in 2013 he was at the Monterey Jazz Festival with the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra under the leadership of our friend Paul Contos. The NGJO is the cream of the young jazz musician crop, and its alumni include Joshua Redman, Ambrose Akinmusire, Mark Turner, Patrice Rushen… In fact, one of our favorite photos of our 2013 MJF coverage depicts James at the piano, before the curtain goes up.

This is one more good reason to check out the Next Gen festival – you will hear the jazz giants of tomorrow in their formative phase.

Listen to KUSP’s recent interview with James.

Photo: Laufer / KUSP

Photo: Laufer / KUSP

Photo: Laufer / KUSP

Photo: Laufer / KUSP

After his student clinic, drummer Matt Wilson talked with KUSP’s Jeff Dayton-Johnson about the creative process, about the dizzying array of bands and projects he’s working on, and about how jazz education works.

Listen to the conversation here.

2015 Next Generation Jazz Festival: Complete Schedule of Events

(Originally posted 3/29/14)
By Jeff Dayton-Johnson | KUSP – The Next Generation Jazz Festival – happening now at the Monterey Conference Center through Sunday night – is the twin to the Monterey Jazz Festival that happens in September. And raising money for jazz education is the explicit raison d’être of the MJF enterprise. One of the most rewarding components of attending the Next Gen festival is the exuberant vibe exuded by so many young jazz musicians in one compact space. You can see it on the performance stages, but you can also sense it in the jam and warm-up rooms and in the corridors. If you haven’t checked it out, there’s still time.

Jazz education can lead to wonderful places…

And each year, young musicians are selected to play in the ‘Next Generation Jazz Orchestra’.

2014 Next Generation Jazz Orchestra
Directed by Paul Contos

3:00 “Perdido”
Composed by Juan Tizol, Ervin Drake, and Harry Lenk
Arranged By Gerald Wilson

16:05 ”I Got It Bad and That Ain’t Good”
Composed by Duke Ellington
Arranged by Bobby Ojeda

24:28 “You Think You’re Funny”
Composed and arranged by John Daversa

35:10 ”Whisper Not”
Composed by Benny Golson
Arranged by Kenny Wener; adapted by Alan Baylock

41:20 ”Prima Luce”
Composed and arranged by Matt Wong

53:06 “Treachery”
Composed by Eric Harland
Arranged by Miguel Moreira

1:02:10 “Sargaco”
Composed and arranged by Pedro Guedes

WOODWINDS
Emery Mesich, alto / Folsom High School, Folsom, CA
Immanuel Wilkins, alto / Upper Darby High School, Upper Darby, PA
Andy Arditi, tenor / Harvard-Westlake School, Studio City, CA
Max Lesser, tenor / LA County High School for the Arts, Los Angeles, CA
Henry Solomon, baritone** / Interlochen Arts Academy, Interlochen, MI

TROMBONES
Coleman Hughes*** / Newark Academy, Livingston, NJ
Nicholas Lee / LA County High School for the Arts, Los Angeles, CA
Kevin Jiang / Newark Academy, Livingston, NJ
Hanne Williams-Baron / Ruth Asawa SF School of the Arts, SF, CA
Steven Robinson (bass) / Westlake High School, Westlake Village, CA

TRUMPETS
Michael Gutierrez / Buchanan High School, Clovis, CA
Andrew Stephens** / Rio Americano High School, Sacramento, CA
Anthony Hervey / Dillard Center for the Arts, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Noah Halpern / Roosevelt High School, Seattle, WA
Wallace Roney / Jazz House Kids, Montclair, NJ

RHYTHM
Chris Fishman, piano / LA County High School for the Arts, Los Angeles, CA
Daryl Johns, bass**** / Dwight-Englewood School, Englewood, NJ
Joseph Bell, guitar / Princeton High School, Princeton, NJ
Ashwin Prasanna, drums / Holmdel High School, Holmdel, NJ
Cameron MacIntosh, drums*** / Columbia High School, Maplewood, NJ
Lizzi Trumbore, vocals / Rancho Bernardo High School, San Diego, CA

** 2-year NGJO member
*** 3-year NGJO member
**** 4-year NGJO member

From March 27-29, you’ll find over 3,000 jazz students from across the country coming to Monterey to play, learn and share in jazz music with pros, teachers and the public.

Over the course of three days, students:

Hear and play with some the best student performers in the country
Learn tips and techniques in workshops led by the pros
Get their minds blown by our star-studded judges band
Receive detailed and thoughtful critique from our experienced adjudicators
Jam for each other and the locals all over downtown Monterey
Share their music with jazz fans from around the world via Web stream.