Earlier this school year, Livingston High School Senior, Daisy Yao played lead alto saxophone with the Montclair-based Jazz House Kids School for Jazz Big Band at the Jazz Educators Network (JEN) Conference in New Orleans, LA. The auditiononly School for Jazz is a pre-college academy and award-winning flagship training program providing extensive instruction for advanced students from across New Jersey and New York.
Directed by Nathan Eklund, the band included a performance by jazz trombonist and international recording artist Wycliffe Gordon. In addition to leading the saxophone section through their hour-long performance, Yao was a featured soloist on the Ella Fitzgerald classic, “IAin’t Got Nothin’ But The Blues.”
Yao said some of her favorite memories of the JEN Conference included meeting and playing alongside Gordon, saxophonist Jeff Coffin (The Dave Matthews Band, Béla Fleck and the Flecktones), and Tia Fuller (Suga Mama, Kit McClure Band), Rudresh Mahanthappa (Princeton University, solo artist), and many other stars of the jazz world.
Two jazz ensemble directors from Livingston, Jim Hegedus, Livingston High School Lancer Jazz Band director, and Erik Donough, Heritage Middle School Junior Lancer Jazz Band director, both attended the conference to cheer Yao on.
The JEN Conference is held every year in a different city. For its 15th anniversary, the four-day jazz education conference returned to the birthplace of jazz, New Orleans, Louisiana. Every year, the conference brings together jazz beginners through experts for a once-in-a-lifetime event. Part inspirational music festival, part networking event, and part educational experience, the annual conference hosts thousands of jazz lovers from around the world. The JEN Conference offers a variety of sessions and clinics to fit every attendee’s jazz interest. Educators learn about pedagogy, research, technology, music business, improvisation, composition, panel discussions, and more.
