LEFT: Kevin Eubanks, band leader for the “Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” performs with a Jazz Sports LA student BELOW: (l to r): Herbie Hancock, Billy Dee Williams, Thelonious Monk, Jr., and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at a Los Angeles Lakers Jazz Sports LA event. BOTTOM: The Washington Prep High School jazz ensemble performs for thousands of basketball fans at “Jazz Sports LA Night”
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music all the vital elements that will allow them to uphold the tradition and continue to create new innovations in jazz. Lastly, the students who participate in Jazz Sports have an opportunity to perform at major sports events including Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers and Washington Wizards basketball games. A recent highlight was a halftime performance by Jazz Sports DC students and Institute Chairman Herbie Hancock at a Washington Wizards “Jazz Night” basketball game at the Verizon Center. The students also appear at high-profile community functions and at local venues, where they can hone their craft and gain valuable professional experience before tens of thousands of people each year. In the 2006-2007 school year, Jazz Sports LA students were invited to perform at the Monterey Jazz Festival and at the Hollywood Bowl. Jazz Sports has helped thousands of students to pursue their creative dreams. Many have continued on to higher education, where they obtain music degrees. Of special note, more than 90% of the seniors who have participated in Jazz Sports have maintained a grade point average of 3.2 or above and have gone on to attend college.
“Jazz players pass the solo spotlight amongst themselves the way basketball players pass the ball”