N.Y. jazzman teaches James River High band

New York jazz trumpeter and composer Steven Bernstein is in town to play some gigs and record with the local band Fight the Big Bull.

Bryan Hooten, a member of the band, invited Bernstein to teach a workshop for the James River High School jazz band, under his direction, in Chesterfield County. Bernstein, also a bandleader and arranger, is also teaching workshops at Virginia Commonwealth University.

"It is very rare for musicians of his caliber to give workshops at the high school level," Hooten said.

Bernstein spent about three hours with 17 students at James River on Wednesday helping them prepare their written music and offering tips on improvisation. As they played "Lil' Darlin," he often stopped the students because he wasn't hearing what he wanted. He scatted the rhythms to the students and started again.

He took the trumpet and led the band in playing "Don't Get Sassy" by Thad Jones. If the students got out of sync or played too fast or too slow, he tried it over and over.

"If I'm going to teach it, I'm going to teach it correctly, and it's up to you guys to take the stuff and do something else with it," he told them. "This is not just fun music. This is like great artistic achievement."

Bernstein said he doesn't get to teach music much, and the message for students is to practice hard. He also said making a life out of playing music is very hard.

"Very few people do," he said. "But it can be done. I'm not a . . . starving musician. I have a house, two teenagers, they have braces. I have two cars. I got a dog and white picket fence. I got all that American Dream stuff."

But learning to play music gives students life skills, such as math, problem-solving and paying attention, Bernstein said.

"They were playing stuff kind of correctly at first, but you couldn't hear anything cause everyone was a little sloppy," he said. "You work so hard at these little things and you get everything correct and suddenly all the music comes out."

Barbara Bly, whose son, Kevin, plays bass in the jazz band, came to the workshop.

"At first, the students seemed a little nervous and at the same time excited about having such a well-known musician in their presence," she said. "Near the end it felt like a laid-back jam session. It was very cool and very entertaining."

Aaron Williams, a James River junior who plays saxophone, said Bernstein is very energetic and knowledgeable about jazz music from the 1920s to today.

"He has taken the traditional idea and mixes it with the contemporary," he said. "He's really good at finding that perfect balance."

Hooten said he was most impressed by Bernstein's simple and organic approach to teaching improvisation.

"Even some students who are normally reticent to improvise were caught up in the excitement and played beautiful solos."

Contact Juan Antonio Lizama at (804) 649-6513 or .