Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 21, 1994 TAG: 9401210328
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By ALMENA HUGHES STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Bad weather forced cancellation of the first rehearsal for ``An Evening of Big Band Music,'' a concert he's conducting Monday evening at the Roanoke Civic Center. Icy roads also prevented an in-person interview and put Kennedy in the position of trying to describe himself over the phone from his Blacksburg home.
"That's a hard question," he laughed. "I hadn't thought of myself from a standpoint of describing. ... modest height, modest weight. ...I have sensitive hands, probably from years of studying the violin. A conductor has to have sensitive hands... hands that move," he said.
Kennedy, who began performing jazz in the late 1940s and has a master of music education degree from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, is Virginia Tech University's director of jazz studies. Before that he was supervisor of secondary arts and humanities for the Richmond public schools.
On Monday, Kennedy and the 19-piece Virginia Tech University Jazz Orchestra will present a concert of big-band jazz. Kennedy says the orchestra's association with big-band music extends back to even before he joined Tech's faculty.
Special guests performers will include Roanoke Symphony conductor and musical director Victoria Bond, and Tech music faculty members Allen Bachelder and Dayl Burnett. Burnett is also a symphony member.
Monday's program will include ``When You're Smiling," "Body and Soul," "Polka Dots and Moonbeams" and "Send In the Clowns," which Kennedy said were chosen because they are representative of the standard American big-band genre.
"As director of jazz, I am a part of all instructional procedures for all subjects embracing jazz," Kennedy explained. He said he also acts as a consultant and functions in research, arranging and composing.
He said he enjoys travel and has done so all over the world, often in conjunction with performing. He said he also loves working in his yard just for the sake of being outdoors, and collecting old and rare recordings, counting among his most-prized some 78 rpms of Duke Ellington and historical Benny Carter and Fletcher Tomlinson recordings.
Jennifer (``her professional name") Kennedy, his wife of 51 years, manages his business affairs, as she has done during most of his career. His musically gifted son, daughter and grandson - two education administrators and a lawyer, respectively - also give him much of which to be proud.
Ideally, he said, he'd like to have more time for composing, arranging and continuing to work with the university's jazz quartet. But he's not complaining. He says the wonderful faculty, quality students and supportive arts community have been the high points of the decade he'll mark in September as Tech's director.
If there is a low, he said, it would be budget cuts, particularly in the arts.
"There are more experiences and activities we could create," he said. "The administration has been very kind to me. Still, the arts need more dollars and corporate sponsors."
This year is busier than usual for him, Kennedy casually mentioned, because he is composer in residence for the Roanoke Symphony. On March 21 at the Roanoke Civic Center, he'll premiere his commissioned work, "Sketches for Solo Violin, Jazz Trio and Orchestra," which he promises will be four movements embracing many styles.
Kennedy's own musical background encompasses many styles, including extensive study of both jazz and classical forms. He says he was influenced and motivated by jazz greats such as Benny Carter, Duke Ellington, Jimmy Lunsford, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, as well as his childhood friend Ahmad Jamal, with whom he started out performing, and longtime friend and fellow musician Ellis Marsalis.
But he also is spurred on to greater creativity by some of his newer acquaintances and collaborations, such as Victoria Bond and the Roanoke Symphony.
"I've noticed that a lot of symphony orchestras are doing more with jazz artists lately," Kennedy said, citing the Roanoke orchestra's recent collaborations with pianist Billy Taylor, vocalists Roberta Flack and Ray Charles, as well as his own performances in concerts sponsored by the symphony's "Friends" groups in the New River Valley and Roanoke.
"I think that's very healthy for all concerned. The symphony people can see the creative world of jazz - which I really feel should be called improvisation of music - and the jazz artists should have high regard for the [symphony's] interpretation of the printed page," he said.
As for the bad weather and missed rehearsals, Kennedy said he doesn't want to think about it.
"I try not to entertain ulcers. I believe in the power of positive thinking," he said.
Which may have been his best self-description of all.
`An Evening of Big Band Music," Monday, 8 p.m. Roanoke Civic Center Auditorium. Tickets $12, $16, $18, $20. Call 343-9127.
Keywords:
PROFILE
by CNB