1
00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:01,320
Speaker 1: Taking a Walk.

2
00:00:01,400 --> 00:00:04,200
Speaker 2: Well, I'm buzz night and welcome to the Taking a

3
00:00:04,200 --> 00:00:08,320
Speaker 2: Walk podcast. And we love telling stories about the great

4
00:00:08,360 --> 00:00:12,760
Speaker 2: work that so many people do in nonprofits that celebrate

5
00:00:12,880 --> 00:00:16,959
Speaker 2: music and that apply the greater good theory, like we

6
00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:19,760
Speaker 2: like to call it on Taking a Walk. So on

7
00:00:19,800 --> 00:00:23,439
Speaker 2: this episode, I'm proud to welcome Hans Schumann. Hello, Hans,

8
00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:24,439
Speaker 2: how you doing.

9
00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:25,360
Speaker 3: Buzz Good to see you.

10
00:00:25,720 --> 00:00:29,040
Speaker 2: I'm doing tremendous now, Hans. You are the founder of

11
00:00:29,080 --> 00:00:35,839
Speaker 2: the national nonprofit Jazz Reach, which is celebrating its thirtieth anniversary,

12
00:00:35,920 --> 00:00:40,040
Speaker 2: which is incredible. We're going to talk about the organization

13
00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:44,400
Speaker 2: and the work that you do, which is so incredible.

14
00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:47,880
Speaker 2: It's across do I have this correct, Hans, across forty

15
00:00:47,920 --> 00:00:48,640
Speaker 2: two states.

16
00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:49,520
Speaker 1: Yep.

17
00:00:49,560 --> 00:00:53,199
Speaker 3: We toured nationally and we've, you know, since inception, we've

18
00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:56,720
Speaker 3: we've presented our work in partnership with major performing arts presenters,

19
00:00:57,040 --> 00:00:58,520
Speaker 3: you know, over forty two states.

20
00:00:59,160 --> 00:01:04,919
Speaker 2: So it's great work celebrating music, taking music out into

21
00:01:04,959 --> 00:01:08,720
Speaker 2: the community, and that outreach we're going to talk about

22
00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:10,560
Speaker 2: and the beginnings of Jazz Reach.

23
00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:13,919
Speaker 1: We'll talk to Hans Schumann coming up right after this.

24
00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:21,119
Speaker 2: A Walk. Well, Hans, welcome to the Taking a Walk Podcast.

25
00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:22,679
Speaker 1: I appreciate you being on.

26
00:01:23,120 --> 00:01:26,240
Speaker 3: I appreciate you having me on, and we like to.

27
00:01:26,200 --> 00:01:28,960
Speaker 2: Open up the Taking a Walk Podcast with this little

28
00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:32,200
Speaker 2: question first, So you're not going to escape this question.

29
00:01:32,720 --> 00:01:35,480
Speaker 2: If you could take a walk with somebody living or dead, Hans,

30
00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:36,880
Speaker 2: who would you take a walk with?

31
00:01:36,959 --> 00:01:38,600
Speaker 1: And where would you take that walk?

32
00:01:40,080 --> 00:01:41,880
Speaker 3: I think I would take a walk, or choose to

33
00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:47,840
Speaker 3: take a walk if he's so generously permit with James Baldwin,

34
00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:53,920
Speaker 3: the great American author and intellectual, And I can't imagine

35
00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:57,640
Speaker 3: a better place to walk than Harlem, which was home

36
00:01:57,640 --> 00:01:59,960
Speaker 3: to him for most of his life.

37
00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:03,400
Speaker 2: That would be that would be a story or two

38
00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:08,160
Speaker 2: to tell, absolutely and a lot to unpack.

39
00:02:08,240 --> 00:02:09,440
Speaker 1: As they say, right.

40
00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:13,840
Speaker 3: Absolutely, no, I mean obviously it was one of the

41
00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:16,359
Speaker 3: deepest intellectuals of our of well at least of the

42
00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:19,720
Speaker 3: twentieth century, and continues to be studied and celebrated and

43
00:02:20,720 --> 00:02:21,440
Speaker 3: for good measure.

44
00:02:23,160 --> 00:02:26,679
Speaker 2: So thank you for sharing that, Hans, and I want

45
00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:28,440
Speaker 2: to congratulate you first of all.

46
00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:31,120
Speaker 1: And the amazing work of jazz reach.

47
00:02:32,760 --> 00:02:36,840
Speaker 2: Tell me about the beginnings of jazz reach, and this

48
00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:41,240
Speaker 2: goes back to the mid nineties, Is that correct?

49
00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:45,600
Speaker 3: In effect? Yeah, I mean, growing up, I mentioned that

50
00:02:45,639 --> 00:02:49,080
Speaker 3: I'm a musician, and I played the drums, and I

51
00:02:49,160 --> 00:02:55,000
Speaker 3: began playing in eighth grade and sort of was introduced

52
00:02:55,040 --> 00:02:56,720
Speaker 3: to jazz sort of in reverse. I was very much

53
00:02:56,720 --> 00:02:59,200
Speaker 3: a product of my generation and so far as the

54
00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:02,960
Speaker 3: only exposure to most music was popular music, and you know,

55
00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:07,400
Speaker 3: I'm definitely of the MTV generation and so but I

56
00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:10,360
Speaker 3: also participated in my high school's jazz ensemble, and so

57
00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:13,960
Speaker 3: many of my friends played saxophones and trumpets, and by

58
00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:15,440
Speaker 3: the very nature of the fact that they played those

59
00:03:15,480 --> 00:03:18,040
Speaker 3: instruments meant that they were a little bit more aware

60
00:03:18,360 --> 00:03:22,320
Speaker 3: of jazz and certainly appreciated the music more than I did,

61
00:03:22,320 --> 00:03:24,960
Speaker 3: at least at that time. And so you know, we

62
00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:28,239
Speaker 3: would we would go to each other's houses after school

63
00:03:28,240 --> 00:03:30,280
Speaker 3: and listen to records and make sandwiches and just have

64
00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:34,040
Speaker 3: these sort of like little listening parties, and so I

65
00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:36,560
Speaker 3: sort of I was sort of lukewarm to it, but

66
00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:38,880
Speaker 3: then became sort of introduced to sort of like the

67
00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:42,640
Speaker 3: sort of progressive rock or fusion stuff, and then you know,

68
00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:45,920
Speaker 3: which would mean you know, Genesis and Russian bands like that,

69
00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:48,480
Speaker 3: and then would sort of and sort of gradually was

70
00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:52,720
Speaker 3: introduced to you know, the bands like Weather Report and

71
00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:57,160
Speaker 3: Chickorea and some of his bands, and then subsequently Miles

72
00:03:57,240 --> 00:04:00,560
Speaker 3: Davis and then Miles Davis's history obviously we'd in reverse

73
00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:03,800
Speaker 3: to his career, and it was introduced to, you know,

74
00:04:03,880 --> 00:04:08,280
Speaker 3: to all the great subsequently, all the great musicians who

75
00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:11,000
Speaker 3: who we all celebrate today, and you know, all the

76
00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:12,960
Speaker 3: blue note artists and all the you know, sort of

77
00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:17,640
Speaker 3: mainstream straight ahead jazz music. So that that sort of

78
00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:20,520
Speaker 3: so that process was a sort of a cultivation of

79
00:04:20,520 --> 00:04:23,040
Speaker 3: a passion, you know, for this music. And so eventually,

80
00:04:23,080 --> 00:04:25,039
Speaker 3: after high school, I went to Berkeley College of Music,

81
00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:28,440
Speaker 3: where I was really sort of put in touch with

82
00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:33,320
Speaker 3: students my own age peers who were even far more

83
00:04:33,320 --> 00:04:35,920
Speaker 3: serious and passion than I was, which was great, and

84
00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:39,000
Speaker 3: so it really that was very inspirational to me. But

85
00:04:39,080 --> 00:04:43,360
Speaker 3: also I grew up in Tucson, Arizona, and aside from

86
00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:47,400
Speaker 3: the University of Arizona, was sort of a cultural desert,

87
00:04:47,640 --> 00:04:51,360
Speaker 3: pun intended. But when I got to Boston, all of

88
00:04:51,400 --> 00:04:54,000
Speaker 3: a sudden, I had access to to all of my

89
00:04:54,080 --> 00:04:58,600
Speaker 3: heroes who were coming into Boston regularly, you know. So

90
00:04:58,680 --> 00:05:01,360
Speaker 3: we're talking about like Max Road, Chanelvin Jones and Tony

91
00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:05,320
Speaker 3: Williams and Billy Higgins and Al Foster and just the

92
00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:08,080
Speaker 3: list goes on, Roy Haynes and all these amazing folks

93
00:05:08,400 --> 00:05:10,560
Speaker 3: who up to that point I'd only heard on record.

94
00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:14,960
Speaker 3: So that sort of further immersed me into the music

95
00:05:15,200 --> 00:05:18,679
Speaker 3: and made me ever more passionate about it. So fast forward,

96
00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:21,960
Speaker 3: after Berkeley, I moved to New York City to sort

97
00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:27,159
Speaker 3: of pursue my own career path just to basically play

98
00:05:27,160 --> 00:05:28,760
Speaker 3: the music and play as much as I could and

99
00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:32,560
Speaker 3: so forth. But along the way, I actually say, like

100
00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:34,360
Speaker 3: between the time I moved to New York City in

101
00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:37,200
Speaker 3: nineteen ninety and between then and ninety four, when I

102
00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:41,479
Speaker 3: established Jazz Reach, I sort of became increasingly concerned about

103
00:05:42,080 --> 00:05:45,320
Speaker 3: young people's lack of access to jazz music and its

104
00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:48,760
Speaker 3: history and opportunities to experience it live. And so to speak.

105
00:05:49,120 --> 00:05:53,240
Speaker 3: I'd had one sort of transformative experience or pivotal experience

106
00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:56,039
Speaker 3: when I was asked to do a little educational presentation

107
00:05:56,120 --> 00:05:59,680
Speaker 3: with a trio at a downtown Brooklyn high school and

108
00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:02,960
Speaker 3: was really just sort of taken aback by the student's

109
00:06:03,160 --> 00:06:06,400
Speaker 3: level of sort of disengagement and disinterest. And I thought

110
00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:09,400
Speaker 3: this can't be about the music. Something's happening, whether you know,

111
00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:11,160
Speaker 3: you know, I don't know if it was our if

112
00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:13,960
Speaker 3: the way that we delivered it, or what, but there

113
00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:17,719
Speaker 3: has to be a way to further immerse these young

114
00:06:17,760 --> 00:06:21,000
Speaker 3: people and engage them in a meaningful way and an

115
00:06:21,040 --> 00:06:23,400
Speaker 3: impactful way. And so that was sort of like the

116
00:06:23,480 --> 00:06:26,360
Speaker 3: germ or the impetus to sort of start jazz reach.

117
00:06:27,279 --> 00:06:28,640
Speaker 1: And it was a light bulb moment.

118
00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:31,600
Speaker 3: It was a light bulb moment. Certainly you knew, you.

119
00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:34,840
Speaker 2: Knew it was right, you knew it was something that

120
00:06:35,400 --> 00:06:41,680
Speaker 2: was gonna help others, was gonna satisfy your curiosity, but

121
00:06:42,640 --> 00:06:44,680
Speaker 2: cement your passion for the music.

122
00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:47,240
Speaker 3: Right Yeah, I mean I just felt like it was

123
00:06:47,480 --> 00:06:50,120
Speaker 3: it was you know, young people are entitled to access

124
00:06:50,120 --> 00:06:53,599
Speaker 3: to their own cultural heritage or they're you know, and history,

125
00:06:53,760 --> 00:06:56,520
Speaker 3: and and the fact that this wasn't a subject that

126
00:06:56,640 --> 00:07:00,680
Speaker 3: was included in most students, you know, social studies or

127
00:07:00,760 --> 00:07:04,560
Speaker 3: history curriculums. You know, they didn't really have access to

128
00:07:04,680 --> 00:07:07,240
Speaker 3: artistic excellence and so far as musicians coming into their

129
00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:10,920
Speaker 3: communities and performing for them. And so there was really

130
00:07:10,960 --> 00:07:13,240
Speaker 3: a void that I saw that needed to be filled.

131
00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:17,440
Speaker 1: So how did you embark on this journey then.

132
00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:23,520
Speaker 3: Very idealistically and very naively. You know, I had had

133
00:07:23,520 --> 00:07:26,560
Speaker 3: no prior not for profit experience, that's for sure. I

134
00:07:26,560 --> 00:07:30,080
Speaker 3: had no idea what running enough for profit would entail.

135
00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:33,480
Speaker 3: But I knew it was something that I was going

136
00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:37,400
Speaker 3: to take very seriously and I wasn't going to allow

137
00:07:37,480 --> 00:07:39,920
Speaker 3: to fail. And it's one of those things like the

138
00:07:39,960 --> 00:07:41,800
Speaker 3: more I talked about it with friends and peers and

139
00:07:41,840 --> 00:07:44,400
Speaker 3: other musicians, you know, sort of it sort of put

140
00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:46,480
Speaker 3: me against the wall and sort of in so far

141
00:07:46,520 --> 00:07:49,200
Speaker 3: as you know, holding myself accountable to do what I

142
00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:51,920
Speaker 3: say I said I was going to do, which is

143
00:07:51,960 --> 00:07:55,240
Speaker 3: a good thing, I think. But nonetheless, I had a

144
00:07:55,320 --> 00:07:59,040
Speaker 3: friend who I had gone to college with, who, after college,

145
00:07:59,560 --> 00:08:03,680
Speaker 3: became the very first development director for SF Jazz. At

146
00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:05,440
Speaker 3: the time, I think they were called Jazz in the city,

147
00:08:05,480 --> 00:08:07,360
Speaker 3: but they were there were producers of the San Francisco

148
00:08:07,400 --> 00:08:10,600
Speaker 3: Jazz Festival, and so he was charged he literally were

149
00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:12,960
Speaker 3: there were They too, were sort of in their infancy.

150
00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:14,800
Speaker 3: They were a little further along than we were, but

151
00:08:15,640 --> 00:08:18,600
Speaker 3: my friend was hired as their very first development director,

152
00:08:18,640 --> 00:08:20,800
Speaker 3: and I basically said, can you send me some writing

153
00:08:20,840 --> 00:08:24,880
Speaker 3: samples in terms of like grant writing and fundraising and

154
00:08:24,880 --> 00:08:28,000
Speaker 3: things like that. And so he sent me writing samples

155
00:08:28,040 --> 00:08:32,040
Speaker 3: that that that that were for grant requests, individual donations,

156
00:08:32,120 --> 00:08:35,880
Speaker 3: and I think sponsorships, and that sort of became the

157
00:08:35,920 --> 00:08:41,120
Speaker 3: foundation of my grant writing expertise. I would say, yeah, yeah,

158
00:08:41,120 --> 00:08:43,040
Speaker 3: I mean I geah for lack of a better word.

159
00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:46,480
Speaker 3: So so it was basically from that point forward, it

160
00:08:46,520 --> 00:08:48,680
Speaker 3: was just it was just everything was a learning experience.

161
00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:51,320
Speaker 3: And you know, again I founded the organization in nineteen

162
00:08:51,360 --> 00:08:53,920
Speaker 3: ninety four, which sort of predated the Internet, and so

163
00:08:54,240 --> 00:08:55,960
Speaker 3: you know, I used to I used to go to

164
00:08:56,480 --> 00:09:01,040
Speaker 3: either New York phil Harmonic concerts or I'd go to

165
00:09:01,360 --> 00:09:04,000
Speaker 3: the very sort of first jazz and linkn Center concerts

166
00:09:04,040 --> 00:09:06,600
Speaker 3: and I'd take those playbills home and I'd go to

167
00:09:06,640 --> 00:09:08,520
Speaker 3: the back where they acknowledge all of their donors and

168
00:09:08,520 --> 00:09:10,839
Speaker 3: I would sort of make lists, you know, by hand,

169
00:09:10,960 --> 00:09:15,959
Speaker 3: these lists of like foundations that were sort of historically

170
00:09:16,559 --> 00:09:20,000
Speaker 3: committed to supporting the arts. And so I would have

171
00:09:20,040 --> 00:09:22,960
Speaker 3: to go to a place called the Foundation Center, which

172
00:09:23,040 --> 00:09:25,520
Speaker 3: is based at the time, it was based in the

173
00:09:25,520 --> 00:09:28,480
Speaker 3: Flatiron district, and you literally had to go there. This

174
00:09:28,600 --> 00:09:30,640
Speaker 3: is again this predates the internet, so there was no

175
00:09:31,200 --> 00:09:33,960
Speaker 3: online portal or any way to access any of this

176
00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:37,240
Speaker 3: information remotely. So, yeah, I've lived and they had these

177
00:09:37,280 --> 00:09:40,000
Speaker 3: big books and again these all this information was not

178
00:09:40,040 --> 00:09:42,520
Speaker 3: available on a computer. It was these large books, like

179
00:09:42,559 --> 00:09:47,679
Speaker 3: bigger than phone books, that were designated by areas of interest.

180
00:09:48,280 --> 00:09:51,680
Speaker 3: So there would be a big book of foundations, you know,

181
00:09:51,760 --> 00:09:54,200
Speaker 3: and it would be nationwide. It was a nationwide book,

182
00:09:54,240 --> 00:09:57,040
Speaker 3: and you know, foundations that support social services or things

183
00:09:57,080 --> 00:09:58,560
Speaker 3: like that. And then there were there other books that

184
00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:02,120
Speaker 3: were designated foundations that supported the arts. So I would

185
00:10:02,120 --> 00:10:05,599
Speaker 3: then cross, I'd go down my list and get the information,

186
00:10:05,880 --> 00:10:08,719
Speaker 3: you know. And it was just literally just trial and error,

187
00:10:08,760 --> 00:10:10,520
Speaker 3: trial and error. And I have to say, the first

188
00:10:11,080 --> 00:10:14,920
Speaker 3: four years or so first three years, you know, we

189
00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:17,880
Speaker 3: got nothing but declines from all the foundations. And mind you,

190
00:10:17,920 --> 00:10:21,080
Speaker 3: we had no track record, no history, nothing that proved

191
00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:23,720
Speaker 3: that we were capable of doing what we said we did.

192
00:10:24,360 --> 00:10:28,960
Speaker 3: I would send these these three page meandering letters on

193
00:10:29,000 --> 00:10:30,800
Speaker 3: the merits of jazz music and its place in our

194
00:10:30,880 --> 00:10:33,959
Speaker 3: nation cultural heritage, and why it's so important to make

195
00:10:33,960 --> 00:10:36,200
Speaker 3: sure that young people have access blah blah blah blah.

196
00:10:36,360 --> 00:10:39,880
Speaker 3: But nonetheless, you know, three years of sending you know,

197
00:10:39,960 --> 00:10:44,319
Speaker 3: I mean tens upon tens upon tens upon tens of proposals,

198
00:10:44,640 --> 00:10:47,400
Speaker 3: only to you know, sort of be rejected, rejected, rejected, rejected,

199
00:10:47,800 --> 00:10:50,120
Speaker 3: And so we didn't really get our very first grant

200
00:10:50,800 --> 00:10:54,400
Speaker 3: until maybe ninety seven or ninety eight, and it was

201
00:10:54,600 --> 00:10:57,760
Speaker 3: it was the ASKAP Foundation that responded to a letter

202
00:10:57,760 --> 00:10:59,720
Speaker 3: that I had written, and they took me to lunch

203
00:10:59,760 --> 00:11:01,880
Speaker 3: and wore my best suit and tried to make as

204
00:11:01,960 --> 00:11:04,560
Speaker 3: strong a case as possible, and they ended up giving

205
00:11:04,640 --> 00:11:08,200
Speaker 3: us a small grant, but nonetheless, it enabled us to

206
00:11:08,240 --> 00:11:11,760
Speaker 3: sort of premiere our debut educational program for a full

207
00:11:11,800 --> 00:11:15,079
Speaker 3: house of New York City public school students. That was

208
00:11:15,120 --> 00:11:17,240
Speaker 3: sort of like sort of launched us a little bit,

209
00:11:17,280 --> 00:11:19,640
Speaker 3: but you know, it was slow going from that point forward,

210
00:11:19,640 --> 00:11:22,280
Speaker 3: but it went nonetheless.

211
00:11:22,280 --> 00:11:28,880
Speaker 2: And that culmination, after those dark moments of not you know,

212
00:11:29,280 --> 00:11:33,480
Speaker 2: getting bites on funding, the culmination of that finally that

213
00:11:33,559 --> 00:11:40,400
Speaker 2: first program must have been absolutely mind blowingly exhilarating.

214
00:11:40,640 --> 00:11:42,400
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was very I mean, it was very affirming,

215
00:11:43,160 --> 00:11:47,760
Speaker 3: particularly after all that rejection. And I have to there

216
00:11:47,800 --> 00:11:53,520
Speaker 3: was one one moment when I received a manila envelope

217
00:11:53,559 --> 00:11:56,640
Speaker 3: in the mail from a school that it attended that

218
00:11:56,880 --> 00:12:01,000
Speaker 3: very first performance, and in it were all these letters,

219
00:12:01,080 --> 00:12:05,720
Speaker 3: just letters probably maybe forty to fifty letters from students

220
00:12:05,720 --> 00:12:09,480
Speaker 3: who had attended this performance, and they were all just

221
00:12:09,679 --> 00:12:15,040
Speaker 3: so positively glowing and complimentary that I literally I started

222
00:12:15,080 --> 00:12:18,360
Speaker 3: I bawled. I started to cry sitting there on my

223
00:12:18,400 --> 00:12:21,760
Speaker 3: bed because it had just been such a long process,

224
00:12:21,880 --> 00:12:24,640
Speaker 3: you know, not knowing whether or not, you know, what

225
00:12:24,679 --> 00:12:27,040
Speaker 3: I wanted to do was ever going to be embraced

226
00:12:27,120 --> 00:12:29,240
Speaker 3: by anyone or affirmed by anyone to the extent that

227
00:12:29,280 --> 00:12:33,319
Speaker 3: they supported or funded or make what we were striving

228
00:12:33,360 --> 00:12:36,800
Speaker 3: to do possible. So yeah, so that was, Yeah, that

229
00:12:36,840 --> 00:12:37,400
Speaker 3: was pivotal.

230
00:12:38,559 --> 00:12:43,080
Speaker 2: And just watching the five minute video talking about Jazz

231
00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:50,520
Speaker 2: Reach on YouTube and just seeing the faces of the

232
00:12:50,600 --> 00:12:55,080
Speaker 2: students and just their joy and you know how locked

233
00:12:55,080 --> 00:13:00,760
Speaker 2: in they are to what's going on is just so beautiful.

234
00:13:01,040 --> 00:13:04,000
Speaker 3: It's amazing, It's beautiful, and it continues to fill my cup.

235
00:13:04,080 --> 00:13:06,360
Speaker 3: I mean, you know, as you can imagine thirty years in,

236
00:13:07,200 --> 00:13:09,679
Speaker 3: you know, I'm certainly wrestling with some burnout and I'm

237
00:13:10,080 --> 00:13:16,120
Speaker 3: certainly trying to muster all the inspiration motivation that I

238
00:13:16,160 --> 00:13:18,680
Speaker 3: can to to sort of keep going and you know,

239
00:13:19,280 --> 00:13:24,880
Speaker 3: keeping it growing, and and obviously I am committed, but

240
00:13:25,800 --> 00:13:28,160
Speaker 3: you know, the reminders are always help, you know, when

241
00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:31,640
Speaker 3: whenever we get these opportunities, we present seasonally, so it's

242
00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:34,920
Speaker 3: sort of consistent with the academic calendar. So we generally

243
00:13:34,960 --> 00:13:38,319
Speaker 3: begin our annual seasons of educational programming in the fall

244
00:13:39,160 --> 00:13:41,520
Speaker 3: January through April or may tend to tend to be

245
00:13:41,559 --> 00:13:44,960
Speaker 3: the busiest period of time. But yeah, within those with

246
00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:47,120
Speaker 3: those within those spans of time, when we when we're

247
00:13:47,120 --> 00:13:50,400
Speaker 3: actually out there carrying out the mission and doing what

248
00:13:50,480 --> 00:13:53,520
Speaker 3: we are so committed to doing, it's it's certainly a

249
00:13:54,240 --> 00:14:00,679
Speaker 3: re energizing and and yeah, cup runneth over in those moments, thankfully,

250
00:14:00,840 --> 00:14:04,920
Speaker 3: you know, because I think we continue obviously, like any organization,

251
00:14:06,160 --> 00:14:08,880
Speaker 3: you know, we continue to get rejected or you know,

252
00:14:09,080 --> 00:14:12,559
Speaker 3: requests for funding de clent and you know, so it's

253
00:14:12,360 --> 00:14:17,240
Speaker 3: it remains an arduous process, you know, to continue from

254
00:14:17,240 --> 00:14:19,600
Speaker 3: one season to the next. So I mean we're fortunate,

255
00:14:20,120 --> 00:14:23,120
Speaker 3: you know that we that we have cultivated really meaningful,

256
00:14:23,200 --> 00:14:27,200
Speaker 3: impactful partnerships with performing arts presenters around the country who

257
00:14:27,240 --> 00:14:29,760
Speaker 3: present our work on their stages. I mean they they

258
00:14:29,880 --> 00:14:33,680
Speaker 3: play a major major role in making what we do possible,

259
00:14:33,840 --> 00:14:36,680
Speaker 3: and you know, insofar as giving us access to their community,

260
00:14:37,440 --> 00:14:40,520
Speaker 3: going so far as to market the programs and promote

261
00:14:40,520 --> 00:14:44,240
Speaker 3: the programs and to ensure that schools have buses to

262
00:14:44,240 --> 00:14:46,880
Speaker 3: bring the students into the performing arts venues and so forth.

263
00:14:47,720 --> 00:14:50,040
Speaker 3: So so yeah, we're we're grateful for them.

264
00:14:51,280 --> 00:14:55,440
Speaker 2: And there's also the aspect of new touring seasons that

265
00:14:55,520 --> 00:15:00,400
Speaker 2: you sort of create new, new particular themes. There's a

266
00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:04,720
Speaker 2: new one that's celebrating the John Coltrane Centennial that I'd

267
00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:05,840
Speaker 2: love for you to talk about.

268
00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:06,400
Speaker 1: Sure.

269
00:15:06,720 --> 00:15:10,320
Speaker 3: So I should mention that most of our educational programming

270
00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:14,400
Speaker 3: is in the form of these live productions. So the

271
00:15:14,440 --> 00:15:18,280
Speaker 3: productions are generally between fifty five to sixty minutes long,

272
00:15:18,640 --> 00:15:22,920
Speaker 3: and our theme or subject oriented. They're all scripted and

273
00:15:23,480 --> 00:15:28,040
Speaker 3: integrate live narration with live music, and all of this

274
00:15:28,160 --> 00:15:31,920
Speaker 3: is complimented with really beautiful video projections. So this is

275
00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:36,880
Speaker 3: sort of our template or our formula for presenting the music.

276
00:15:36,960 --> 00:15:39,360
Speaker 3: So we do have a program on Miles Davis on

277
00:15:39,400 --> 00:15:43,360
Speaker 3: Too Kellington. We have programs that promote the histories of

278
00:15:43,440 --> 00:15:45,960
Speaker 3: Latin jazz and women in jazz, and we have programs

279
00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:49,240
Speaker 3: that sort of highlight the history of jazz sort of

280
00:15:49,320 --> 00:15:52,400
Speaker 3: using twentieth century American history as a backdrop. We've got

281
00:15:52,440 --> 00:15:56,080
Speaker 3: a relatively new program called Janis Johunting, which aims to

282
00:15:56,080 --> 00:15:59,800
Speaker 3: promote innovations and developments in jazz between nineteen ninety and

283
00:16:01,240 --> 00:16:04,840
Speaker 3: So to your comment about a new program, particularly of

284
00:16:04,840 --> 00:16:06,600
Speaker 3: the John Culture and program, it's it's sort of what

285
00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:09,360
Speaker 3: we're working on currently and we hope to sort of

286
00:16:09,360 --> 00:16:12,640
Speaker 3: have a soft debut of that program in early January.

287
00:16:12,640 --> 00:16:15,560
Speaker 3: There's a Performing Arts presenters conference in New York that

288
00:16:15,600 --> 00:16:18,080
Speaker 3: takes place every January called APAT, which stands for the

289
00:16:18,080 --> 00:16:21,360
Speaker 3: Association of Performing Arts Presenters, and it's really where all

290
00:16:21,400 --> 00:16:25,080
Speaker 3: of the performing arts presenters around the country converge to

291
00:16:25,240 --> 00:16:30,040
Speaker 3: sort of explore opportunities for the coming season. So it's

292
00:16:30,040 --> 00:16:34,040
Speaker 3: always beneficial for us to showcase a new work that

293
00:16:34,080 --> 00:16:37,840
Speaker 3: we're planning to feature for the next season, and so

294
00:16:38,960 --> 00:16:40,840
Speaker 3: we're hoping to sort of have the program more or

295
00:16:40,880 --> 00:16:44,000
Speaker 3: less finished by Ben and then we'll offer it for

296
00:16:44,080 --> 00:16:47,120
Speaker 3: presentation in the twenty six twenty seventh season.

297
00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:53,000
Speaker 2: So over time, I think you have observed and passed

298
00:16:53,040 --> 00:16:59,040
Speaker 2: on your learnings about what jazz does for the students

299
00:16:59,760 --> 00:17:03,640
Speaker 2: in these communities and talk about some of those takeaways

300
00:17:03,680 --> 00:17:07,080
Speaker 2: that I think are very key for people to understand

301
00:17:07,440 --> 00:17:08,680
Speaker 2: and why this is important.

302
00:17:09,600 --> 00:17:14,000
Speaker 3: First and foremost, I mean it to experience a live

303
00:17:14,080 --> 00:17:19,600
Speaker 3: jazz performance is to sort of experience the most aspirational

304
00:17:19,680 --> 00:17:24,000
Speaker 3: of our democratic principles and ideals sort of an action, right,

305
00:17:24,040 --> 00:17:27,920
Speaker 3: So this notion that you have any number of musicians

306
00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:32,240
Speaker 3: on stage reacting to one another, interacting with one another,

307
00:17:32,320 --> 00:17:36,400
Speaker 3: communicating with one another, and participating in a democratic process

308
00:17:36,640 --> 00:17:40,800
Speaker 3: that gives everyone equal weight and equal say. So, you

309
00:17:40,880 --> 00:17:45,679
Speaker 3: have the accompaniment portion or component of which is to

310
00:17:45,720 --> 00:17:48,800
Speaker 3: say that the rhythm section is always sort of supporting

311
00:17:49,520 --> 00:17:52,840
Speaker 3: the soloists, right, sort of give them a forum or

312
00:17:52,840 --> 00:17:55,880
Speaker 3: a platform to sound as great as they can sound

313
00:17:56,000 --> 00:17:58,480
Speaker 3: and be as great as they can be. So you

314
00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:01,920
Speaker 3: have this accompaniment portion, but then you have this opportunity

315
00:18:01,960 --> 00:18:05,240
Speaker 3: to solo and really express yourself and to to have

316
00:18:05,320 --> 00:18:07,800
Speaker 3: your voice be heard and to have had an individuals

317
00:18:07,800 --> 00:18:11,719
Speaker 3: say so you know that said, you know, you literally

318
00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:14,840
Speaker 3: have sort of like the democratic process sort of embodied

319
00:18:14,840 --> 00:18:18,199
Speaker 3: in that in that experience. But they're also I mean,

320
00:18:18,200 --> 00:18:21,040
Speaker 3: the young people who attend our performance is also you know,

321
00:18:21,119 --> 00:18:23,879
Speaker 3: it may be their first time participating as an audience member.

322
00:18:24,480 --> 00:18:27,320
Speaker 3: So it sort of cultivates this this awareness of what

323
00:18:27,359 --> 00:18:30,560
Speaker 3: it means to participate, you know, and enjoy music from

324
00:18:30,600 --> 00:18:33,479
Speaker 3: a listener's point of view. And it's also you know

325
00:18:33,560 --> 00:18:36,640
Speaker 3: it oftentimes it's their their first time experiencing you know,

326
00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:38,960
Speaker 3: what we might call and I realize this as subjective,

327
00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:42,439
Speaker 3: but what we what we might call artistic excellence. You know,

328
00:18:42,480 --> 00:18:46,320
Speaker 3: you have these individual musicians who have dedicated their lives

329
00:18:46,320 --> 00:18:48,520
Speaker 3: to the practice of their instruments and to the mastery

330
00:18:48,520 --> 00:18:51,400
Speaker 3: of their instruments, and I think it's important to see

331
00:18:51,440 --> 00:18:55,120
Speaker 3: anyone who's committed themselves to something passionately and who are

332
00:18:55,440 --> 00:18:59,200
Speaker 3: are so dedicated to achieving, you know, excellence at what

333
00:18:59,240 --> 00:19:01,320
Speaker 3: they do. So I mean, that's.

334
00:19:01,119 --> 00:19:03,480
Speaker 1: That's a that's the short the short list.

335
00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:08,400
Speaker 2: And of course there's the empathetic aspects of it. I've

336
00:19:08,440 --> 00:19:11,280
Speaker 2: sort of referred to the collaborative aspects of it, but

337
00:19:11,359 --> 00:19:15,760
Speaker 2: there are these these uh not so subtle learnings that

338
00:19:15,880 --> 00:19:18,880
Speaker 2: come out of that process and that listening as well.

339
00:19:19,280 --> 00:19:22,960
Speaker 3: Right, yeah, well, inter you know, interaction, you know, to

340
00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:26,120
Speaker 3: interact in a meaningful way or in a way that

341
00:19:26,119 --> 00:19:29,399
Speaker 3: that that produces great art, you know, is in it

342
00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:32,160
Speaker 3: of itself an active empathy and compassion.

343
00:19:32,880 --> 00:19:36,359
Speaker 1: So how can folks help out in the mission of

344
00:19:36,480 --> 00:19:37,040
Speaker 1: Jazz Reach.

345
00:19:37,920 --> 00:19:40,040
Speaker 3: Well, they can certainly go to our website, which is

346
00:19:40,119 --> 00:19:44,680
Speaker 3: Jazzreach dot org. If they're interested in supporting us, obviously

347
00:19:44,720 --> 00:19:47,639
Speaker 3: we encourage them to make a donation to our organization.

348
00:19:48,680 --> 00:19:51,280
Speaker 3: If they're based in New York City and are interested

349
00:19:51,320 --> 00:19:56,640
Speaker 3: in playing sort of an active role, they can inquire

350
00:19:57,480 --> 00:20:00,320
Speaker 3: with me about the possibility of joining our board of

351
00:20:00,320 --> 00:20:03,800
Speaker 3: directors or playing some sort of advisory role. We're certain

352
00:20:03,880 --> 00:20:07,840
Speaker 3: we're currently in the process of carrying out some capacity

353
00:20:07,880 --> 00:20:11,760
Speaker 3: building plans and strategies that are kind of taking me

354
00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:16,119
Speaker 3: out of my depths or my comfortable wheelhouse, and so

355
00:20:16,160 --> 00:20:18,800
Speaker 3: that's a that's a capital project where we're aiming to

356
00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:22,200
Speaker 3: sort of build a facility in the Upper Hudson Valley

357
00:20:22,320 --> 00:20:25,280
Speaker 3: of New York State. But we're very we're very much

358
00:20:25,280 --> 00:20:29,120
Speaker 3: in the embryonic stages of that of implementing that project.

359
00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:32,399
Speaker 3: So I, you know, I could certainly use some insight

360
00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:36,560
Speaker 3: and expertise in some of those areas. But first and foremost,

361
00:20:36,800 --> 00:20:39,480
Speaker 3: you know, if they're if anyone's interested in supporting us,

362
00:20:39,480 --> 00:20:41,919
Speaker 3: we'd certainly encourage you to donate by just going to

363
00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:42,679
Speaker 3: our website.

364
00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:44,840
Speaker 1: It's amazing work.

365
00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:48,160
Speaker 2: You wouldn't be the type of person to crow about

366
00:20:48,200 --> 00:20:50,919
Speaker 2: things like this, but you've never missed a single Jazz

367
00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:55,800
Speaker 2: Reach performance in thirty years. And your work is incredible

368
00:20:55,840 --> 00:20:58,800
Speaker 2: and it's so important and we're grateful for it. But

369
00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:03,680
Speaker 2: we hope understand it and appreciate it because it deserves.

370
00:21:03,280 --> 00:21:06,400
Speaker 1: Having a light shining on it. So thank you, Hans

371
00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:08,120
Speaker 1: Schumann for everything you're doing.

372
00:21:08,440 --> 00:21:10,399
Speaker 3: I can thank you enough for giving the opportunity to

373
00:21:10,400 --> 00:21:12,160
Speaker 3: speak about it means a lot.

374
00:21:12,640 --> 00:21:14,439
Speaker 1: Thank you, Buzz, Thank you, Hans.

375
00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:18,720
Speaker 2: Thanks for listening to this episode of the Taking a

376
00:21:18,760 --> 00:21:22,680
Speaker 2: Walk podcast. Share this and other episodes with your friends

377
00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:26,240
Speaker 2: and follow us so you never miss an episode. Taking

378
00:21:26,280 --> 00:21:30,160
Speaker 2: a Walk is available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

379
00:21:30,359 --> 00:21:32,680
Speaker 2: and wherever you get your podcasts.