What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/1234521
8 WHAT'S UP! APRIL 12-18, 2020 FEATURE Jazz Adjusts Festival finds a way forward JOCELYN MURPHY NWA Democrat-Gazette W e're making use of the fact that everybody is all of a sudden having to be an expert on recording concerts and workshops in their living room, and putting that out and premiering some videos of that to the public for free." Chris Teal is the jazz director at the University of Arkansas Community Music School, as well as the director and founder of the nonprofit Institute for Creative Music. Following the success of last year's inaugural Fayetteville Jazz Festival, Teal was excited to grow the festival in its second year — before a pandemic went and got everything canceled. Making use of his contacts in the jazz community across the country, Teal says organizers decided to move everything to a virtual setting rather than giving up on the festival completely. "As jazz musicians who spend a lot of our time freelancing — whether it's performing or teaching — the new reality is that a lot of the work that is going on is being noticed through like a two-minute Instagram TV video or something like that," Teal notes of technology already used regularly by musicians. "I think all of these performers are really open to answering questions and engaging," he goes on. "So even though we don't have the opportunity to have that kind of spontaneous back-and-forth that happens at an in-person workshop, we're really trying to facilitate that through the media and connect the fans and the other musicians with these performers, and create some relationships that way." The types of relationships formed through workshops and networking at an event like a music festival can often forge invaluable connections that lead to future teachers or collaborators, Teal explains. Where last year's festival included a day of workshops for student and other jazz ensembles, the second annual Fayetteville Jazz Festival will focus on performances and master classes from the artists-in-residence. It will also be free and open to anyone via streaming on the Institute for Creative Music's YouTube channel. "I think sometimes, at least based off my experience performing at or adjudicating jazz festivals in the past, sometimes it's exclusively geared toward high school kids or college kids," Teal shares. "And I think there Fayetteville Jazz Festival founder Chris Teal (on drums) performs at last year's inaugural festival during an event hosted by the Fayetteville Public Library. The second annual festival will be completely virtual and will host artists-in-residence alongside local jazz heavy-hitters Teal, Matt Nelson (piano) and Jake Hertzog (guitar). (Courtesy Photo/Tracy Riley)