CAJ President

The CAJ board is regrouping this June to discuss an overview of the academic year and to plan our 2023-2024 academic year. The general consensus from talking to educators across the state is that it was great to have a fairly normal (post-pandemic) year, but everyone wondered how they used to do everything! I concur. It’s wonderful to be across the finish line of another school year.

Hall of Fame

We are accepting nominations for the CAJ Hall of Fame 2024. Nominations should be for educators who are retired from teaching and have contributed meaningfully to jazz education in California. We accept instrumental and vocal - all levels, including professional musicians and composers who have impacted jazz education. Please check out our HOF page for past honorees - a “who’s who” in jazz education. We were thrilled to bring in Les Nunes, Emily Gates, and Dr. Charles Hamilton this year at CASMEC. Please send your nominations to: info@cajazz.org

Tune-Up

We are amping up our Tune-Up clinics now that most schools are allowing normal activities on campus. Directors can have their bands “come as they are” - they do not/should not try to have groups be performance‐ready. The idea is to work on concepts that are lacking. It’s casual – a workshop environment. They can structure the Tune-Up to fit your needs. We had several schools take advantage of our “One-on-One Tune-Up” where one clinician came to the school to work on a specific issue. Go to our site for more info!

CAJ/NAfME Collegiate Chapter

CAJ is excited to announce this new partnership with NafMe for a collegiate chapter. College students enrolled as NafMe Collegiates can sign up for free to become a CAJ collegiate member. Our board and membership want to support the next generation of jazz educators. Please contact our new CAJ Collegiate President, Caitlin Cooper, by going to our website for more information.

CAJ Board Positions

We are excited to announce the following positions are open on our board.

• Newsletter Editor: This requires writing skills and a creative approach to reaching our membership through email newsletters.

• Social Media & Marketing Director: This requires tech skills in all social media to promote the activities of CAJ. Reach out to info@caj.org to apply! We are hoping to fill these positions asap.

The Jazz Educators Summer Institute:

CAJ will host our Summer Jazz Educators Institute in Southern California next summer. Tina Raymond (Director of Jazz Studies at Cal State Northridge) and Barb Catlin (Director of Jazz at Pomona College & Caltech) will host the two-day event. We hope to help directors who are new to jazz as well as work on concepts to finetune ensembles. The atmosphere will be encouraging, fun, and participatory. Stay tuned for details!

We hope you all have a restorative summer break. We look forward to seeing you in Sacramento for CASMEC 2024!