Clarinetist, composer and educator Alvin Batiste dies at 74...
Greg Mouning
Today I learned the sad news that sometime early Sunday, Alvin Batiste, the veteran modern jazz clarinetist, composer and educator, died of what appears to be a heart attack. Read below for more information surrounding the passing of another jazz great.
-Greg
Alvin Batiste, Clarinetist of New Orleans, Dies at 74
NEW ORLEANS, May 6 (AP) — Alvin Batiste, a clarinetist who toured with Ray Charles, recorded with Branford Marsalis and taught the pianist Henry Butler, died here on Sunday only hours before he was to perform with Harry Connick Jr. and Mr. Marsalis at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. He was 74.
Alvin Batiste
The cause was apparently a heart attack, festival officials said.
Mr. Marsalis's record label, Marsalis Music, released the CD "Marsalis Music Honors Alvin Batiste" just a few weeks ago; Mr. Marsalis played on the album.
Mr. Batiste was born in New Orleans in 1932. He was considered one of the founders of the city's modern jazz scene and wrote for and toured with Billy Cobham and Cannonball Adderley.
He was a longtime teacher at Southern University in Baton Rouge, La., where he created his own jazz institute, one of the first of its kind in the country; he also taught jazz at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. His students included Mr. Marsalis, Donald Harrison, Kent Jordan, Michael Ward, Herlin Riley, Charlie Singleton and Woodie Douglas.
"He was not only a teacher, he was my father away from home," Mr. Butler said. "He taught us about music, the history of music and the business of music."
Mr. Batiste toured with Charles in 1958, but remained largely unknown to the public until he recorded with the group Clarinet Summit in the 1980s; it included John Carter, David Murray and Jimmy Hamilton.
Mr. Batiste's albums included "Bayou Magic" (1988), "Late" (1993) and "Songs, Words and Messages, Connections" (1999).
Sunday's event, in the jazz tent of festival, was called "Marsalis Music Honors Alvin Batiste & Bob French."
"The show will go on," Matthew Goldman, a festival spokesman, announced. "Branford will play the entire show."
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/07/arts/07batiste.html?ex=1336190400
New Orleans mourns the loss of veteran clarinetist Alvin Batiste
Posted by The Times-Picayune May 06, 2007 7:01AM
By Keith Spera
Music writer
Alvin Batiste, the veteran modern jazz clarinetist, composer and
educator, died early Sunday of an apparent heart attack, hours before
he was scheduled to perform with Harry Connick Jr. and Branford
Marsalis at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
Marsalis' record label released Mr. Batiste's latest CD, "Marsalis Music Honors Alvin Batiste," weeks ago. Consisting mostly of Mr. Batiste's original compositions, it features two of his better-known former students, Marsalis and drummer Herlin Riley.
BRYAN S. BERTEAUX
Alvin
Batiste conducts campers at the Louis 'Satchmo' Armstrong Summer Jazz
Camp in a jazz selection Monday. The camp's 2003 artist-in-residence,
pianist and educator Barry Harris, and members of the faculty have been
providing music instruction at Nelson Elementary School for the past
two weeks.Mr. Batiste was born in New Orleans in 1932. He was first introduced to the clarinet by his father, who played traditional jazz. Mr. Batiste's modern approach to the instrument was formed in part by listening to Charlie Parker albums. Alvin Batiste whistles away on the clarinet as he and the Jazztronauts work the BellSouth/WWOZ Jazz Tent on Friday during the second week of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. The fest opens today at 11 a.m.; warm temperatures and partly sunny skies are forecast.
He went on to largely define the improvisational role of the clarinet, an instrument generally associated with traditional jazz, in modern bebop. Along with Ellis Marsalis, Harold Battiste, drummer Ed Blackwell and others, he helped establish a modern jazz community in New Orleans.
He composed orchestral works and three operas, as well as the textbook "The Root Progression System." He toured with or wrote songs for Ray Charles, Billy Cobham and Cannonball Adderley, among many others.
In college, in became the first African-American soloist with the New Orleans Philharmonic Orchestra. He earned a master's degree from Louisiana State University in performance and composition. Student teaching as part of that program introduced him to a new calling in the classroom. His most enduring legacy may be the scores of students he instructed in the ways of modern jazz.
Ellis Lucia / Times-Picayune
Students
participating in the Louis Armstrong Jazz Camp practice under the
tutelage of many local jazz greats including Alvin Batiste and Kid
Jordan Friday, July 23, 2004, at Medard Nelson Elementary School, 3121
St. Bernard Av.He co-founded the jazz studies program at Southern University, among the first of its kind in the nation, and was instrumental in the formation of the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, where he continued to teach.
At Southern, his students included "American Idol" judge Randy Jackson, pianist Henry Butler and saxophonist Donald Harrison Jr. Mr. Batiste famously dismissed Branford Marsalis from the Southern jazz band, believing he had not yet committed himself to the music. Marsalis later credited that dismissal with helping him to focus on his career.
Today at 3:35 p.m., Mr. Batiste was scheduled to perform in the
AT&T/WWOZ Jazz Tent at Jazzfest alongside Marsalis, Connick and
drummer Bob French, another Marsalis Music honoree. The set is now
expected to be a tribute to Mr. Batiste.
http://blog.nola.com/entertainment/2007/05/new_orleans_morns_the_loss_of.html
Greg Mouning
Below is another tribute to this giant in Jazz I felt was necessary to share:
Posted by By Keith Spera May 06, 2007 4:42PM
The final day of the 2007 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival celebrated the life and music of Alvin Batiste more poignantly than anyone imagined.
The modern jazz clarinetist, composer and educator was scheduled to share a two-hour set Sunday with veteran drummer Bob French at the AT&T/WWOZ Jazz Tent. Special guests Branford Marsalis and Harry Connick Jr. would sit in as a tribute to Batiste and French, two musicians whose influence far outstripped their fame.
But 13 hours before the performance, Batiste's wife and constant companion, Edith, checked on her husband as he sat in front of a television in their Uptown home. He did not respond. He had died of an apparent heart attack at age 74.
So Sunday's show functioned as a jazz funeral, but an especially joyous one.
"It's so profound that the Creator chose this day to take him," said drummer Herlin Riley, a former Batiste student. "Because now we could all get together in a celebratory fashion and pay homage to him."
Batiste was born in New Orleans in 1932. He was introduced to the clarinet by his father, who played traditional jazz. Batiste's modern approach to the instrument was derived in part from Charlie Parker albums.
He went on to largely define the improvisational role of the clarinet, an instrument generally associated with traditional jazz, in modern bebop. Along with Ellis Marsalis, Harold Battiste, drummer Ed Blackwell and others, he helped establish the modern jazz community in New Orleans.
He composed orchestral works and three operas, as well as the textbook "The Root Progression System." He toured with or wrote songs for Ray Charles, Billy Cobham and Cannonball Adderley, among many others.
In college, he became the first African-American soloist with the New Orleans Philharmonic Orchestra. He earned a master's degree from Louisiana State University in performance and composition.
Enduring legacy
Student teaching as
part of that program introduced him to a new calling in the classroom.
His most enduring legacy may be the scores of students he instructed.
He co-founded the jazz studies program at Southern University of Baton
Rouge, among the first of its kind in the nation, and was instrumental
in the formation of the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, where he
continued to teach.
Indicative of his legacy, all three NOCCA seniors who performed as Batiste's band on Sunday have received scholarships to music conservatories.
"He was the ultimate educator, performer, mentor," said Astral Project saxophonist and Loyola professor Tony Dagradi. "He was all that rolled into one. There's nobody else in the world who did it as well as Alvin."
At Southern, Batiste's students included future "American Idol" judge Randy Jackson, pianist Henry Butler and saxophonist Donald Harrison Jr. Batiste famously dismissed Branford Marsalis from the Southern jazz band, believing he had not yet committed himself to the music. Marsalis later credited that dismissal with helping him focus on his career.
Batiste taught Riley, who went on to play with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra, at Carver High School.
"He was a perpetual student and a perpetual educator," Riley said.
"He would practice every morning when he woke up. He was still
searching, still looking for something new in the music. And when he
found it, he passed it on."
Connected to the music
Both French and
Batiste recently issued CDs through Branford Marsalis' record label.
Batiste took great pride in his new CD, "Marsalis Music Honors Alvin
Batiste." Consisting mostly of his original compositions, it features
Marsalis and Riley. Riley recalled that, after the band recorded the
song "Clean Air," Batiste shed tears of joy.
"The music touched him that way," Riley said. "He had that kind of connection to the music."
Word of Batiste's passing spread quickly among musicians. WWOZ-FM dedicated much of its Sunday broadcast to his music. Artists ranging from Allen Toussaint to modern jazz trumpeter Maurice Brown acknowledged Batiste's legacy on stage at Jazzfest.
The day's ultimate tribute turned out to be the show he would have starred in.
When he first received the news early Sunday, Jazz Tent coordinator Greg Davis briefly considered canceling the show. Then Davis, the co-founding trumpeter of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, just as quickly realized that the show must go on, if with a slightly different tone.
"Some folks were making contingency plans about whether we should
go on," Davis said. "But this was going to turn into a real tribute to
someone people genuinely loved. These musicians really loved Bat."
'We decided to keep on'
Batiste's band of
NOCCA students -- bassist Max Moran, 18, pianist Conun Pappas and
drummer Joe Dyson, both 17, and NOCCA graduate and alto saxophonist
Khris Royal, 20 -- received word of his passing early Sunday.
They assembled in a trailer behind the Jazz Tent and rearranged their set to proceed without their instructor.
"Mr. Batiste would have wanted us to play, so we decided to keep on moving," Pappas said.
They had performed with Batiste on Saturday at a festival in Baton Rouge. Batiste rarely shared a stage with his son Maynard, a piano player and attorney. But on Saturday, Maynard joined him on stage in Baton Rouge for what proved to be his final concert.
On Sunday afternoon in the Jazz Tent, Maynard delivered a brief eulogy for his father. Then his students went to work, opening with the Batiste composition "Picou." Branford Marsalis soon joined in.
Batiste's niece and nephew, vocalist Stephanie Jordan and her trumpeter brother Marlon Jordan, teamed up for the ballad "Here's to Life." Both were in tears by the song's conclusion.
Then drummer Bob French and his band took over, with Harry Connick Jr. on piano. French focused on the second part of a jazz funeral, when the tempo picks up and the musicians set free the spirit of the departed.
Forty minutes later, long past when Connick was scheduled to leave for his headlining set at the Acura Stage, he delivered his own eulogy. With Marsalis on soprano saxophone, Connick sang a slow, mournful "Just a Closer Walk With Thee."
Then they celebrated one last time with "Didn't He Ramble."
Later, during the all-star jazz jam that closed the Jazz Tent, nearly two dozen musicians and singers gathered onstage for a joyous "I'll Fly Away." Jazz Tent decorum was set aside as people danced in the aisles and stood on chairs.
Onstage, Riley danced with a snare drum around his waist. Tony Dagradi, trombonists Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews and "Big" Sam Williams, trumpeter Maurice Brown and singer John Boutte all joined in the Jazzfest send-off for Batiste.
"Although he's physically not here, I really believe this is what he would have wanted," Greg Davis said. "This way, his fans got to share in the tribute."
Comments
JimmyS says...
I saw Alvin Batiste at my first Jazz Fest in 1992. That experience was incredible and I remember it was the first time I got chills up an down my spine at Jazz Fest. His sound was haunting and beautiful. He was one of the reasons I have come back every year. He created an experience that is hard to get anywhere else.
mailman23 says...
Alpha/Omega. A Giant among us has passed on, We are privileged to have been witness, Respect and blessings to the Batiste family.
bigsteveno says...
Batiste taught at Southern a long time ago, but he had only just recently retired from UNO after having taught there for years. As usual the Times-Picayune story does not mention UNO. Why is that?
gwood99 says...
Alvin Batiste 1932 - 2007
NOCCA|Riverfront shall forever be blessed by the endless gifts of Alvin Batiste. We are a place richer in our understanding of arts, creativity, instruction, giving, and jazz...and such knowledge will not fade away for his imprint is strong and unforgettable.
Alvin came on board the artist-teacher team in 2003, in his gentlemanly style that was deceptive in its energy and capacity to knock you over with wisdom and inspiration. He has served hundreds of student-artist in that time, passing along everything he knew of jazz, stage presence, decorum, and graciousness. He shared the stage with his student-artists, providing pathways to their growth and vision that was priceless. When Alvin spoke or played, ears and eyes and hearts opened wide. When he laughed, you could not help but laugh, too.
Throughout his career, he shared the stage with the greatest of the jazz greats. No one can forget the warmth of his performances that included the spiritual and moving poetry of his wife, Edith. Yet, despite the remarkable connection of his musical expressions to audiences he put teaching first.
The students he shaped to become prominent artists across America are too many to list, but his pride in their accomplishments was a source of unforgettable stories and delight. Our 2007 graduates of the jazz program, such as Conan Pappas, Max Moran, Joey Peebles, and Joe Dyson will no doubt tell unforgettable stories of "Bat" evermore. In 2005, he became the first-ever Chair for Jazz Studies at NOCCA|Riverfront, and in tribute to his legacy, the chair will now carry his name.
As a composer, arranger, writer, and innovator, his creativity was mischievous - projects emerging behind the boyish twinkle in his eyes. He was always up to something. And whatever it was, it had the incomparable hallmark of his genius to take a seed of an idea on a walk of astonishing goodness.
He was a clarinetist of unprecedented voice. He was vibrancy
wrapped in charm. He was kindness and joy. He was giving beyond
measure. He was a mentor in a way even the best mentors cannot know. He
was our dear, dear friend.
Arnett56 says...
I was one of Alvin Batiste's boys. We met in Montreux in 1978 when he
was playing with Billy Cobham. In 2000, when I was in New Orleans for
the International Association for Jazz Education convention, Edith and
Alvin took me and New York jazz trumpeter Jimmy Owens to their favorite
catfish restaurant. I can still taste that fish.
The Batistes were
loving people with huge talents. We will gather the jazz tribes in
Columbus, Ohio and have a second line in his honor, because Alvin
Batiste rambled!
Arnett Howard, trumpet
seva says...
Science
and Math High School located at 5625 Loyola Ave (corner of Nashville)
will be having a showcase for their performing arts students including
band, piano, guitar, spoken word and more. The schowcase is this
thursday May 10th at 6:30pm.
Please come and show your support.
Seva Venet
rbermingham says...
At NOCCA, I remember that Alvin was always in the audience on opening night of our musical theatre productions, always interested in watching the students perform, always fascinated with the work they did on stage, forever peering over the lip of the orchestra pit at intermission to wonder at the instruments, computers, synthesizers, always ready to engage each of us in a discussion about our work, never about his work, but about what we were doing, and mostly, about what we could do together to help students master the skills required of live performance. This most humble of men had no need to take notice of any of us, but did because he was genuinely interested in and constantly in tune with everything going on around him...and he never tired in his attempts to pull everyone together to find better ways to assist students in acquiring a deeper understanding of the discipline required of the true artist, irrespective of the chosen medium. Perhaps aware of time running out, Alvin dreamed intensely about what he might do better to pass his understanding to a new generation.
In what turned out to be the last few months of his life, Alvin and I found ourselves together again, this time in the office of the Baton Rouge Symphony, dreaming outloud about his "Wheel of Live Jazz and Chamber Music Program" designed to provide students in East Baton Rouge Parish with a new and unique opportunity to learn about jazz and classical music. As always, Alvin's excitement was boundless, and the urgency in his voice and mind far surpassed his ability to wrestle the ideas on to a piece of paper. We met several times, exchanged emails, struggled with fax machines, drank a lot of horrible coffee, and finally, in early April, produced a document that landed on Mayor Kip Holden's desk.
Whether or not the "Wheel" ever rolls in Baton Rouge is no longer in Alvin's hands. Even in its current state, the "Wheel" itself is yet another testimony to a man who, quite simply, could never give enough back to the young musicians who peopled his world. To have been able to dream and scheme with Alvin on so many occasions, provided me the opportunity to share a few short walks on the life-journey of a truly great spirit.
Alvin...I will remember fondly the two of us huddled together at my too cluttlered desk, figuring out how to make a square wheel round, so that it might roll smoothly from the Mayor's desk right into the schools of East Baton Rouge Parish. I will keep you posted, my friend.
queenxxxiii says...
As a parent of a young musician I find my household under a dark cloud. My son auditioned last month for the chance to attend NOCCA and study under the great "Bat" He was kind and very complementary to my son. He told him after the audition that of course he would have to wait for the letter from the school, he winked at him and then told him that he was looking forward to working with him. Several weeks ago, he made it to a performance that my 14 year old son was playing at and again made him feel like he was on the right track. He and I discussed a program of student workshops that I am planning. He was ready to jump on board without hesitation. We were so excited. I will find a way to make the workshops happen in his honor. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.
j2feathers says...
To A Giant....Merci
You were the best instructor and educator I have ever known. I enjoyed
every day under your tutledge. Today my love of music and propespective
on improvasation and arranging, come directly from the things you
taught me. Therefore, you were my bread. I greatly appreciate that. To
Manard and all the family...Life is always where there's clean
air...Mr. Bat is Clean Air.
God Bless
from a bluesman...inspired by a Great Jazzman.
Au' revoir
http://blog.nola.com/times-picayune/2007/05/new_orleans_mourns_the_loss_of.html