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RAVINIA JAZZ MENTORS
Over ,
people are served through Ravinia’s
Reach*Teach*Play programs each year, ensuring
that music education remains accessible to all.
e programs are designed to educate, foster
diverse audience involvement, and ensure eq-
uitable access to live music experiences in the
community and at Ravinia.
Founded in
with the help of Ravinia Life
Trustee Ramsey Lewis, Emeritus Coordinator of
Jazz at Ravinia Penny Tyler, and former CPS mu-
sic administrator William Johnson, the Ravinia
Jazz Mentors program inspires, encourages, and
trains high-school students.
e program was
the very rst Chicago Public Schools initiative
of Ravinia’s Reach*Teach*Play programs.
e Jazz Mentors, a teaching and performing
ensemble consisting of eight of Chicago’s nest
jazz musicians, give performances and master
classes in Chicago Public High Schools.
e
Jazz Mentors share their enthusiasm with music
students and build on concepts taught by school
band directors. A central component of the Jazz
Mentor Program is the selection (through au-
dition) of the Ravinia Jazz Scholars, a group of
Chicago’s most talented student musicians.
e Jazz Scholars receive intensive, year-round
training by the Jazz Mentors, as well as schol-
arships and opportunities to perform. Many
Jazz Scholars alumni go on to study music in
college, and several have become professional
musicians, including Calvin Rogers, a drummer
who was sought out early in his career by Ram-
sey Lewis for a recording session, and Franklin
Vanderbilt, a drummer who performs with Len-
ny Kravitz. Former Jazz Scholars Marquis Hill,
Michael Piolet, Kyle Swan, and Alexis Lombre
have been participants in Ravinia’s Steans Music
Institute Program for Jazz. In
Hill won the
elonious Monk International Jazz Trumpet
Competition, the most prestigious of its kind.
Ravinia gratefully acknowledges the Ravinia
Women’s Board for its support of the Jazz Schol-
ars Program.
One of the original Ravinia Jazz Mentors, drum-
mer
Ernie Adams
studied jazz at the University
of North Texas and the University of Wiscon-
sin–Milwaukee. In his career, he has toured,
recorded, or performed with Joe Williams,
Nancy Wilson, Al Jarreau, Dianne Reeves, Stan-
ley Turrentine (including a concert with Dizzy
Gillespie), James Moody, Pharaoh Sanders, Ben-
ny Golson, Houston Person, Clark Terry, Tom
Harrell, Arturo Sandoval, Randy Brecker, Slide
Hampton, Wycli Gordon, Ramsey Lewis, Ah-
mad Jamal, Joe Zawinul, Jack McDu and Joey
DeFrancesco, Al DiMeola, Mike Stern, Bucky
and John Pizzarelli, Russell Malone, Buster
Williams, Anthony Jackson, Jimmy Haslip,
John Clayton, Poncho Sanchez, and Glen
Velez, among many others. He has played on
over
recordings, including numerous tele-
vision, radio, and movie soundtracks. Adams
is a drum/jazz professor at the University of
Illinois–Chicago.
Born in Harlem and raised on the Upper West
Side of New York City,
Bobby Broom
took up
guitar at , and ve years later made his rst
appearance with Sonny Rollins at Carnegie
Hall. He later toured and recorded with Rollins
during
– and
– . Broom currently
performs with the Bobby Broom Trio and the
Bobby Broom Organi-Sation, and he was also
co-leader of the Deep Blue Organ Trio from
to
. He has released over a dozen al-
bums as a band leader, most recently
My Shin-
ing Hour
in
, and four with the Deep Blue
Organ Trio.
roughout his career Broom has
also been active as a jazz educator. He continues
to conduct lectures, clinics and master classes
for colleges, universities, and jazz organizations
nationally and sometimes abroad. Broom holds
a master of music in jazz pedagogy from North-
western University.
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