Session Proposals

Jordan VanHemert is a Korean American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader working in the contemporary post-bop tradition. An active international touring artist, he has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia — including frequent appearances in South Korea — at venues such as Dazzle in Denver, Cliff Bell’s in Detroit, and The Blue Llama in Ann Arbor. His recent recordings and touring have brought him into collaboration with leading figures in modern jazz including Terell Stafford, Michael Dease, Helen Sung, Rodney Whitaker, and Lewis Nash.

VanHemert’s music has earned sustained international recognition. Japan’s The Walkers praised a recent album as “the musical expression of what it means to be alive,” while MMJazz Korea described him as “another rising star at a time when the number of Korean jazz musicians is rising.” In the United States, JazzTimes editor-in-chief David R. Adler has highlighted his “authoritative sound” and “penetrating musical intelligence,” and longtime collaborator Rodney Whitaker calls him “a powerful voice on saxophone… telling his story through the lens of his Korean cultural traditions.”

While it is ultimately one of the most important parts of the jazz language, improvisation has been a notoriously difficult skill to teach since the onset of jazz education. Jazz pedagogical analysis of the problems facing young improvisers either oversimplifies the process with an overreliance on technical nuts and bolts such as scales and chords or overcomplicates the process with a mystical view on improvisation as a hidden path to uncharted territory. Both of these extremes are problematic and often result in less-than-desirable outcomes due to the fact that improvisation is highly individualized and is not teachable using a one-size-fits-all approach. Through this presentation of my lifelong study of jazz improvisation, I will demystify and demonstrate practical ways to encourage students to improvise starting as early as the middle school level. This presentation will focus on the importance of time and swing feel, articulation styles, an emphasis on listening, and how to create a culture around improvisation that encourages your students to build community within your ensemble. By balancing the oral tradition of the jazz language with a theoretical understanding of basic functional harmony and a deeper understanding of the rhythm section, we, as educators, can empower students to reach greater heights as improvisers and foster a lifelong love of the jazz art form.

• Band - Middle School
• Band - Secondary
• Collegiate