Time to Jazz It Up at MENC

MENC: The National Association for Music Education launched a special section of its website just for jazz educators on May 30. The section includes news and articles of interest to jazz teachers, links to other resources and sites, and a forum for online interaction.

Today at MENC headquarters in Reston, MENC past president Willie L. Hill, Jr. (also a past president of the International Association for Jazz Education) will lead a group of jazz educators and advocates in a discussion of possible directions for MENC's jazz initiative. Participants include:

• Pete BarenBregge (Warner/Alfred Music/Belwin Jazz)
• Art Dawkins (Howard University - retired)
• John Hasse (Smithsonian Institution)
• Kim McCord (Illinois State University)
• Connaitre Miller (Howard University)
• John J. Mahlmann (MENC)
• Michael Blakeslee (MENC)

Check back soon for photos and news from this discussion.

In other MENC jazz news, next month sees the publication of Teaching Improv in Your Jazz Ensemble: A Complete Guide for Music Educators, co-published by MENC and Rowman & Littlefield Education.

Updates on MENC's jazz initiative will be posted on the Jazz section website.

-- Elizabeth Lasko, May 30, 2008, © MENC: The National Association for Music Education (www.menc.org)