B INNEKILL Vol. XXIX No. 15
a monthly publication for students, faculty, staff and friends
Oct. 12, 2012
20 years of the EJO The BINNEKILL sat down with Empire Jazz Orchestra Director Dr. Bill Meckley, Dean of the School of Music. The EJO celebrates its 20th anniversary with a special concert on Oct. 16, at 8 p.m. in the Taylor Auditorium. The performance will feature some of the EJO’s “greatest hits,” including the music of Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Charles Mingus, Gil Evans, Jelly Roll Morton, Frank Zappa and many more. Tickets: $20-general admission; $6 nonSCCC students; free for SCCC students. How did the EJO first start? SCCC was recently named a “military friendly campus” by Victory Media. L. to R.: Jason Bunn, Culinary Arts major, who works in the College’s Veterans Affairs Office; Susan Donahue, Veterans Certifying Official and Information Processing Specialist II in the Registrar’s Office; Benaya Rogers, Chemical Dependency Counseling major, who also works in the Veterans Affairs Office; and Bill Van Hoesen, Advisor to the Student Veterans of America Club chapter at SCCC.
Veterans connect through office If Jason Bunn, a Culinary Arts major at SCCC and Navy veteran, walks into a classroom and spots another veteran, he always sits next to him or her. “Veterans always have a need for camaraderie,” Jason said. “I like having a friend I know I can count on in class.” Jason and Benaya Rogers, a Chemical Dependency Counseling major and Navy veteran, would like student veterans to know that they can count on the College’s Veterans Affairs Office for services and referrals. The office provides information about benefits, counseling, vocational rehabilitation, work-study programs, applications processing, assistance in claims handling, referrals and the Student Veterans of America chapter on campus.
The late Butch Conn from A Place For Jazz asked me to put together a group to do a children’s jazz concert. That was the first performance of a group called the Empire Jazz Orchestra 20 years ago. I’d been thinking about putting a band together so that gave me a reason. At that time it was an eight-piece group. Now we have 21 core members. When did the band move to SCCC? I approached College President Gabe Basil about the idea of having a professional group in residence here. He and the board of trustees agreed. I expanded it to a big band and started out with a series of two concerts a year. Are there any other big bands around here? Just dance bands, but not concert jazz orchestras. We’re patterned after the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. You have some serious fans.
This year SCCC was included on the list of Military Friendly Schools ® list by Victory Media, the premier media entity for military personnel transitioning into civilian life. The 2013 Military Friendly Schools ® list honors the top 15 percent of colleges, universities and trade schools that are doing the most to embrace America’s military service members, veterans, and spouses as students and ensure their success on campus.
Yes, we’ve had people who have come from the very beginning who still come to every concert. I think they really appreciate hearing the various styles of music. We’ve been able to expose them to music that they may not have heard before. For example, a lot of them didn’t know the music of Gil Evans and Oliver Nelson who are really great composers who needed people to hear their music.
The Veterans Affairs Office is located in Elston Hall 222P, 381-1284, veteransaffairs@sunysccc.edu.
Who are some of your favorites? Gil Evans, Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn and Oliver Nelson. (continued on page 6)
Remember: Advance ONLINE registration for continuing students begins Friday, November 2