Time to Jazz It Up at MENC

MENC: The National Association for Music Education launched a special section of its Web site 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 Web site.

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