Jazz group entertains, educates in Paradise

Who would have thought that professional musicians from Georgia would have two Plains High School students open their act?

Senior Keegan Huffman and sophomore Stanley Decker did just that. The two Plains residents each performed a solo number for the group, the "Jazz Legacy Project" at the Paradise Center on Friday evening.

"I thought the students were stellar. If they remain passionate about their music, they could certainly play professionally someday," said Karen Thorson, the Paradise Center's board secretary. "I was nervous. I was panicking," said Decker, who played only a portion of the 1939 piece "In the Mood" on the tenor saxophone. It was Decker's first time to play solo in front of an audience. Even with a little stage fright, he felt confident and believed he did a good job. He and Huffman both plan to become professional musicians.

This was Huffman's fourth time to play a solo piece in public. On Friday, he played a 1940s piece called "Moanin'" on his baritone saxophone. The 18-year-old Huffman, who has played the sax for eight years, has been playing this particular piece since he was a sophomore. He said he was only a little nervous Friday night at the Paradise Center. He rehearses every day in school for an hour and a half and about an hour each day at home. He's been with the school band all four years. Decker, 15, has played the saxophone for six years and practiced his piece for about a month.

"I thought they were very brave and were awesome," said Plains High School music teacher Rhiannon Greenwood, who will graduate this year from the University of Montana Western with a Bachelor of Science and Arts degree in music. She felt that her students did a fine job and are talented musicians. Both are members of the school band.

Greenwood was also impressed with the Jazz Legacy Project. "They were really good. You could tell they have a passion and experience for jazz. It opened my eyes to jazz," said Greenwood, who plays several instruments, but specializes in percussion.

The Jazz Legacy Project was made up of four musicians - Justin Varnes on drums, John Sandfort on the saxophone, Kevin Smith on the bass, and Nick Rosen on the piano - all from Atlanta, and all are music teachers. Thorson and her husband, John, heard the group last year at the Montana Performing Arts Consortium Showcase at Great Falls and asked them to play at the center.

The four men formed their group seven years ago. They've played around the country, but this was their first time in Sanders County. They have about 90 years of musical experience among the four of them and do 60-70 performances a year. The group played for almost two hours to about 80 fans from Plains, Paradise and Thompson Falls, playing nine arrangements by renowned jazz musician John Coltrane, including a jazz version of Rogers and Hammerstein's "My Favorite Things," one of the group's favorite numbers. Coltrane is considered one of the most influential musicians in the history of jazz, said Varnes, who teaches jazz history at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. "John Coltrane changed the style of jazz," he added.

"The Jazz Legacy Project is an amazing group. Individually, they are each extremely talented. Together, they are an impeccable musical collaboration," said Thorson. "Off stage, they are kind, caring, and warm-hearted," she added. Varnes said that when he started his jazz teaching career he realized that the material from the textbooks was boring. "So, I ditched the textbooks and started teaching what jazz musicians told me," said the 50-year-old Varnes, who started playing drums at age 16.

Varnes said that jazz is a lot like baseball and has no concrete beginnings, but evolved through the years. He said jazz started formulating around the 1900s in New Orleans. He said that Louis Armstrong might have been the most popular jazz musician. "He could do it twice as well as anyone else," said Varnes.

Varnes and his group also did an educational outreach at Dixon School on Friday, where they demonstrated jazz music and shared information for just over an hour about Coltrane and his ultimate desire to be a better person. Thorson said that the Paradise Center always couples entertainment with education. She recently went before the Plains School Board to encourage field trips to the Paradise Center. Nearly every musical group that performs at the center has done some kind of educational outreach at a school.

"We approach musical performances as being entertaining, of course, but more than entertainment, we see them as educational," said Thorson. "Annually, for each performance season, we choose performers who represent different types of music, different cultures, different eras, different generations, etc. These diverse selections offer and share new perspectives, new information, new traditions, and maybe new philosophies to those who attend," she said.

Thorson said that the Jazz Legacy Project is especially educational because the band members are music educators and because their performance highlights how jazz came to be and how it changed music in the country, and who the singers/songwriters were who created and popularized jazz. "They believe they have found their calling, visiting rural areas, providing a different kind of music to the public and interacting with youth through both music and encouragement to be the best person you can be," said Thorson.

Varnes said the crowd gave them a warm welcome. "They were great and they were very enthusiastic," he said. "We had some great conversations with some of the residents after the concert." He said the group would like to come back again.