Coastal Companion

Your ultimate guide to the coast

Swing Central for High School Jazz Bands

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Aspiring young musicians to perform and study with esteemed clinicians including Associate Artistic Director Marcus Roberts, Wycliffe Gordon, John Clayton, James Ketch and Terell Stafford

Savannah, Georgia – Savannah Music Festival (SMF) has selected twelve outstanding high school jazz bands from eight states across the nation to participate in the fourth annual SWING CENTRAL High School Jazz Band Competition & Workshop between March 25 and 27, 2009. This year, the nationally recognized three-day workshop features some of the country’s finest high school jazz bands going head-to-head for $13,000 in cash awards. Mike Philly, Band Director of Tate High School (FL), says, “Our students are looking forward to the awesome line-up of clinicians and the chance to hear some of the other great high school jazz bands.”

“The team of instructors is a ‘Who’s Who’ of jazz greats,” says Battle Ground (WA) High School Band Director Greg McKelvey. Pianist Marcus Roberts, who recently accepted the official role of SMF’s Associate Artistic Director of Jazz Education, leads the SWING CENTRAL faculty. Many of the clinicians are also performing as part of original programs during the festival’s Savannah Jazz Party and Jazz Now & Forever concert series, giving the students opportunities to hear them in action on stage. Each competing band receives a preparatory visit by a SWING CENTRAL clinician in February. The complete faculty is Marcus Roberts, John Clayton, Jeff Clayton, Dave Stryker, Wycliffe Gordon, Jason Marsalis, Roland Guerin, Gerald Clayton, Obed Calvaire, Terell Stafford, James Ketch, Jack Wilkins, and Bunky Green.

Participating bands include:

Agoura High School Jazz A, Agoura Hills, CA

Agoura High School Studio A, Agoura Hills, CA

Battle Ground High School, Battle Ground, WA

Dillard Center for the Arts, Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Edmonds-Woodway High School, Edmonds, WA

Hoover High School, Hoover, AL

Overton High School, Memphis, TN

Lakota East High School, Liberty Township, OH

The Lovett School, Atlanta, GA

Pacific Crest Community School, Portland, OR

Tarpon Springs High School, Tarpon Springs, FL

Tate High School, Cantonment, FL

Held in the ballroom at the Savannah International Trade & Convention Center, competition rounds are free to the public. Each band plays three selections: Benny Carter’s “Wiggle Walk,” “To You” by Thad Jones, and the Harold Arlen-Johnny Mercer classic “Blues in the Night,” a test piece arranged especially for SWING CENTRAL by Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra saxophonist Ted Nash. Judges include John Clayton, James Ketch, Wycliffe Gordon, Bunky Green and Jack Wilkins. The three top-scoring bands each receive an honorarium ($5000 for first, $2500 for second and $1000 for third place) and perform the opening set at the SMF production Battle Royale, March 27, 8:30 p.m. at the Lucas Theatre for the Arts. Battle Royale recalls the long-standing tradition of jazz “cutting contests.” Two rhythm sections, the Marcus Roberts Trio and the Clayton Brothers, will face-off in spontaneous friendly competition. Various student soloists from the top bands perform, followed by special appearances by their clinicians. All SWING CENTRAL bands also perform for the public at Savannah’s Rousakis Plaza on River Street on March 26-27.

SWING CENTRAL is open to high school jazz bands from across the country. Committed to enhancing studies of the jazz tradition in the South, it fuses an established high quality mentorship program with a youth jazz band competition of national scope. The dates for SWING CENTRAL 2010 are March 31-April 2. SWING CENTRAL is sponsored by Robert & Jean Faircloth, Atlanta Gas Light and Rus & Jan Boekenheide.

Gallery Talk and Reception at SCAD Museum of Art – Savannah

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SCAD Museum of Art presents gallery talk and reception

SAVANNAH GA—Savannah College of Art and Design art history professor Jeffrey Hamilton will present a gallery talk in conjunction with the exhibition, “Town and Country: British Taste in the Late 18th and Early 19th Centuries,” Sunday, Jan. 18, 1:30 p.m. at SCAD Museum of Art, 227 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. A closing reception for the exhibition is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 21, 5-7 p.m. The gallery talk, closing reception and exhibition are free and open to the public.

“Town and Country: British Taste in the Late 18th and Early 19th Centuries” will be on display through Jan. 23. The exhibition features approximately 30 works by great English masters that exemplify typical British art across a 75-year span. The paintings depict a world of prosperous merchants and their wives, and of the English landed gentry and aristocracy, as they pose for posterity in their finery. Artists represented include Thomas Gainsborough, Sir Joshua Reynolds and John Constable, a trinity of English masters. A masterpiece by John Constable, an oil sketch titled “Noon” depicting an impending storm on Hampstead Heath, is displayed near an almost contemporary mezzotint engraving of the final painting. Glimpses of the English landscape in drawings by Gainsborough or a hunting scene by Francis Sartorius reveal the taste of the times, as do the fashions as they trace the period’s growing sense of realism and romanticism. Five portraits by Joseph Wright of Derby bring together a particularly strong showing of the artist.

The works are drawn from the museum’s permanent collection and from outside lenders. The exhibition is dedicated to H. Thomas Mauldin and Raymond L. Levin.

For more information about the gallery talk, exhibition and to arrange group tours, call 912.525.7191.

SCAD presents Comics Art Forum XV Alumni Exhibition

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SAVANNAH, Ga. – The Savannah College of Art and Design presents outstanding works by SCAD sequential art alumni and friends in the Comics Art Forum XV Alumni Exhibition now through Jan. 22 at Alexander Hall, 668 Indian St., Savannah, Ga. Gallery hours are Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. The exhibition is free and open to the public.


“We have mainstream superhero comics, alternative comics, Web comics, instructional comics, character design, toy design and more,” said David Duncan, chair of the SCAD sequential art department. “The most exciting thing about this exhibition is that it showcases many of the different fields of the industry that our students have moved into.”

Works on display also include independent and commercial features such as spreads for the comic book industry, cartooning, illustrating, short story writing and production.

“Standout artists in the show include Lee Loughridge, who has made a very reputable name for himself as one of the top colorists in mainstream comics, and Meghan Jean Kinder, who received a position in the visual development department at Laika Entertainment shortly after graduating,” said Duncan. Additional artists include Jennie Breeden, Erica Reis Currey, Jon Proctor, Mark Schultz, David Silva, Chris Sasaki, Nick Dragotta, Joey Weiser and Kristian Donaldson.

“The SCAD sequential art department really is the crossroads for many industries. The professional opportunities for our students reach out so much further than just comics,” said Duncan.

The exhibition was developed in conjunction with Comics Art Forum XV during the university’s fall quarter. Exhibiting artists were hosted as guests for the 15th annual event that brings in industry professionals for two days of workshops, portfolio reviews and a panel discussion with SCAD students. The event is a one-of-a-kind opportunity for students to network with industry professionals, learn more about the latest industry trends, and secure internships or jobs.

For more information about the SCAD sequential art department, visit www.scad.edu/sequentialart.

China on My Mind – Jekyll Island, GA

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China on My Mind: Inspired by Travels Exhibit of Painting and Pottery

Presented by Jekyll Island Arts Association

The powerful visual inspirations from trips abroad have given us China on My Mind: Inspired by Travels, a collection of new work by two Jekyll Island Arts Association members, painter Linda Wunder and potter Nan Phillips. Wunder’s works of Chinese watercolor on rice paper, colored pencil, acrylic, mixed media and photography alongside Phillips’ high fire stoneware bring the Far East to the Golden Isles.

An Interior Designer by trade with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Linda Wunder enjoys her studio on Jekyll Island.  She wants her painting to reveal her impression of and feelings about a subject. Linda often paints by memory, however, her memory is refined by the feelings the subject is generating.  She truly feels sentiment and mood should prevail in a successful painting. This collection, inspired by her travel to China, has allowed Linda to share her impressions through the integration of traditional Chinese brushwork and contemporary techniques.

Nan Phillips, a Potter since 1957, holds a Bachelor of Arts. She calls the Jekyll Island Pottery Guild in the basement of Goodyear Cottage home.  Nan states, “When I first touched potters clay I knew that I wanted to make beautiful things with this medium for the rest of my life. Everyday, I deal with earth, water, air and fire, each in its proper proportion, all in a rhythm dictated by nature’s science.” Nan’s new collection, inspired by China, is a reminder to her, “My art keeps me connected with all the potters whoever worked in mountain caves, desert canyons and village markets. I think how these pots of mine will outlive me and be passed down from user to user.”

China on My Mind: Inspired by Travels , a collection of new work by these two exceptional artists will be for sale during their show at Goodyear Cottage in Jekyll Island’s Historic District February 1st – March 8th as well as at the artist reception Sunday, February 1st from 1-3 PM. Admission is always free at Goodyear’s gallery and shop, where regular hours are M-F Noon – 4 PM and weekends 10 AM-4 PM. For more information call 635-3920.

A Musical Salute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – Savannah, Georgia

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Savannah, GA) The Jewish Educational Alliance will be host to the 11th Annual, A Musical Salute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Tuesday, January 13th at 7:00 P.M. at the Jewish Educational Alliance (5111 Abercorn St). This year’s event is being co-presented by the Jewish Educational Alliance, the Savannah Jewish Federation Community Relations Council, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Observance Day Association, the Coastal Jazz Association, through a grant from the City of Savannah’s Department of Cultural Affairs and the Southeast Georgia Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. Portman’s Music Superstore, Entenmann’s, Hands On Savannah of United Way, and MorningStar Cultural Arts are the event’s sponsors.

There will be a dessert reception at intermission.

This very powerful event, which will feature the Savannah Jazz Orchestra, co-led by Teddy Adams and Randall Reese, & The Savannah Arts Academy Skyelite Jazz Band, under the baton of Michael Hutchinson, is part of the official Martin Luther King, Jr. Observance Celebration which pays tribute to the birth and life of one of America’s great men of freedom, justice and equality. The Savannah Jazz Orchestra is comprised of the areas best musicians and has backed some of the biggest names in jazz, including: Benny Golson, Jimmy Heath, Diane Schuur, Clark Terry and Bobby Watson. They have performed at most of the Savannah Jazz Festivals and their annual Tribute to the Duke Ellington Concert is a favorite among local jazz fans. The Skyelite Jazz Band has traveled the globe representing Savannah and has won many awards and accolades.
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