This year, the Kayden Guest Artist Program invited Terri Lynne Carrington, world-renowned Grammy-Award-winning jazz artist, to work with students from the Academy Jazz Band. She featured as Guest speaker for the weekly All-School Meeting (ASM), and performed an exclusive concert with her band The Social Science.
Carrington’s passion for jazz first began when she was given a set of drums at seven years old. Today, Carrington holds three Grammy Awards, including the 2013 award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album as the first female musician to win a Grammy in this category, and serves as the founder and artistic director of the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice.
“Jazz runs in the family: my father plays saxophone and drums, and my grandfather played drums, so I’m a third-generation musician. My dad just knew everybody in jazz, so when they would come — all the great musicians who would come and talk from New York or wherever — he would take me, have any meet them, tell them I played drums, and they would ask me to sit in and play. They would be curious and want to hear me [play], and I developed a bit of a reputation. Eventually, I got a scholarship to Berkeley when I was 11, I moved to New York when I was 18, and started playing with a lot of amazing jazz musicians and my career just grew,” said Carrington.
Peter Cirelli, Instructor in Music, Jazz Band Conductor, and Director of Performance, described his thought process behind inviting Carrington to campus. Cirelli specifically highlighted how Carrington’s presence on campus might encourage more students to become involved with jazz, especially those who see a mostly white-male-dominated field.
“In many ways, [Carrington being on campus is] just a very powerful fertilizer to help something grow. We have a good program here in music in general, in jazz specifically. Having someone come in like this, share their knowledge, helps the students understand what they’re doing but it also generates a lot of enthusiasm. Especially pleased to have a woman who’s a jazz player, a woman of color, who can inspire people who might see her as a role model. She’s a tremendous role model in all ways, so I’m happy to see someone like this at Andover,” said Cirelli.
Cirelli continued, emphasizing Carrington as a positive force when working with students during the Jazz Ensemble practice on September 25.
“I thought [the Kayden Guest Artist Program] would be a good opportunity to bring in someone who not only has gone far in their career but also utilized that to improve the lives of many others in many ways. She’s always been a great jazz musician, who happens to be a woman who uses that perspective to improve the lives of other women in jazz. I had met Terri Lynne before and she’s just so easy to talk with and caring about others. So she came in and she instantly saw the students that we have and their talents, and worked with them where they are and had a lot of great things to say. To help us play music better, to help us play together better, she’s just a very thoughtful person, wonderful to work with so far,” said Cirelli.
Emily Wu ’25, a bassist in the Academy Jazz Band, described how Carrington’s musical advice heightened her awareness of stylistic choices when playing. Wu also appreciated how Carrington offered insight on the difference in form between professional and high school jazz, expressing the importance of playing together in a high school band.
“She [gave me] a lot of stylist advice, and gave me advice on how my notes actually blended together. She said [that] I probably should make some more stylistic choices for the length of my notes, which also goes for every single instrument, not only the jazz bass, but also other sections: winds, brass sections. She made a lot of interesting comments based on her experiences with the [jazz] form… When she was describing her own experiences with other professional jazz artists, she said, ‘music is actually about trying to break the form, everyone around me is trying to break the form.’ But at the [high school] level we’re trying to keep [the form] together,” said Wu.
Similarly, Jacob Kaiser ’24, a pianist in the Academy Jazz Band, commented on Carrington’s work in creating an improved culture of acceptance and appreciation within the genre. Kaiser also mentioned how he hopes with continued efforts that jazz can further expand and work to preserve its original values.
“In my experience, it’s a little contradictory how jazz education works because it’s so inaccessible and it tends to be dominated by white men. Jazz is supposed to be a very free art form and it’s supposed to be representative, obviously of African-American culture, but also of all people and expression. [Carrington’s] work in trying to expand the domain of musicians that are into jazz and to promote the work of female jazz artists is really important. I’m super excited about her concert, she’s a really talented musician so hearing her play is going to be awesome,” said Kaiser.
Carrington encouraged students interested in jazz to continue exploring their passions, acknowledging the difficulty of undertaking a career in music. She pointed out how jazz’s spontaneity was distinct from other musical styles, where jazz can offer musicians more opportunities for musical expression.
“Everyone needs different advice, so I don’t really ever have one thing [for students]… I think you should follow your heart. Follow your inclinations. If you’re really interested in jazz, then pursue it, because it’s a very specialized platform. It takes well-educated musicians, meaning people that want to put in the work, because it’s hard, and people that are interested in expanding, because with popular music, and even classical sometimes, there’s limitation, in my opinion, to expanding your thinking, because there’s no improvisation. I think we have to improvise in life: jazz is a perfect tool to teach you more about how to improvise in other ways,” said Carrington.
Bringing up Carrington’s work with activism, Wu mentioned how Carrington’s presence on campus stimulated newfound ways of thinking about inequality in the field of music. Wu spoke to Carrington’s ability to inspire change through her music.
“Andover showed me that a lot of fields are male-dominated and white-dominated, especially with jazz. The fact that [Carrington is] bringing her experiences onto the table and has actually spoken about these social issues is the kind of diversity that Andover is looking for. I think that liberal institutions might sell the idea that diversity is looks: diversity is your traits, and your experiences. But true diversity is only diversity in ideas, which is what [Carrington’s visit] does for Andover,” said Wu.
Carrington will feature as the Guest Speaker for the ASM on Friday, September 29 and will also perform in a concert that evening at 7:30 p.m. featuring herself and her band, The Social Science, in the Cochran Chapel.
