By Robert Eckert
A Junior Vocal Jazz Choir? Really? ton from Neuqua Valley High School, Denise Adams,
Can young students really sing and
get into Vocal Jazz music?
These are all questions that I have heard over the five
years I have chaired the Junior Vocal Jazz Choir for
District 2. During this time, I have had a blast bringing
7th and 8th grade vocal students from all over District
2 to be exposed to the vocal jazz genre. It never ceas-
es to amaze me how excited these young vocalists are
when they are at the Jazz Festival working with some
of the finest vocal jazz directors from Illinois.
Over the past five years that I have chaired the Junior
Vocal Jazz Choir in District 2, I have had the honor to
work with Julie Clemens, the Illinois Central College
Choral Jazz director, Dr. James Rimington, retired mu-
sic professor from Bradley University, Ryan Riming-
46 Illinois Music Educator | Volume 79 Number 3
retired Vocal Jazz specialist from Peoria, Illinois and
Jeannie Craddock from Tuscola High School who has
also served as District 5 Vocal Jazz Chair. These indi-
viduals, along with dedicated music educators sending
their students to participate, have done some much to
encourage young vocal jazz musicians and give them
positive performance experiences at the District Jazz
Festival.
Let’s go back to how we start each year with our Dis-
trict 2 Junior Vocal Jazz Choir. First, I secure an ex-
cellent vocal jazz director early before the school year
begins someone who will embrace the opportunity to
work with a younger group of musicians. I work with
the guest director in selecting music, asking them
to select 3 – 4 vocal jazz arrangements to work on
at the festival. After we announce the guest director
 and the selections to be performed, we
ask District Junior High vocal directors to
nominate students who are interested in
this exciting new experience of vocal jazz
music. Because vocal jazz is often a new
experience for students at the junior high
level, we use this District Festival event to
expose these young future jazz singers to
vocal jazz so we do not have an audition
for these students. For my own students,
I explain what a vocal jazz choir is, what
we are going to do at the festival and what
kinds of music we will be performing. This
usually brings over half of my own stu-
dents to signing up to be nominated for
that year’s festival.
Following the nomination process in Oc-
tober, I select a balanced group of sing-
ers from the nominated students from our
district. I feel it very important to allow as
many students a chance to try the vocal
jazz music experience! I try to accept as
many as possible when setting up the
District Junior Vocal Jazz Choir while also
maintaining as balanced an ensemble as
possible. For many of these students, this
could be an experience so great that they
will continue to pursue further opportuni-
ties in vocal jazz music. What could be
better than that! During these festivals, I
have noticed directors who are also get-
ting acquainted to this wonderful world of
vocal jazz music, an area they were not
familiar with before, but are now excited to
take ideas back to their school ensembles
and introduce to their other students. And
that’s a win-win for everyone!
Before the festival takes place, we ask that
the students be acquainted with the jazz
selections before the festival. This allows
the guest director the time and opportuni-
ty to teach the art of jazz singing to these
students. This gets exciting as you see the
students learn how to feel the incredible
life in jazz music. You can see it on their
faces as the day goes on and they begin
to understand more about vocal jazz as a
singer.
During the day of the festival, the guest
director works on the presentation of how
to sing vocal jazz. Students are also intro-
Spring 2019 | www.ilmea.org 47
duced to the unfamiliar (and sometimes
intimidating) scat style of singing in an
impromptu solo! This past Fall, we had a
student from Mossville Junior High who
was so excited to sing a scat solo for our
presentation you could just feel the happi-
ness coming from him and his excitement
to share this newfound way to express
himself. So many other singers, who be-
come more confident, will try to scat, start
opening up as a musician and taking
chances they never knew thought about
before. This is one aspect that I have al-
ways enjoyed at every festival - watching
these musicians grow in their confidence
just during this one-day event.
The music that we choose for the Junior
Vocal Jazz Choir is legitimate three part
jazz music and still at an appropriate lev-
el for these emerging musicians. As Craig
Roselieb, ILMEA Jazz Division President,
observed at our festival last November,
“the literature was authentic and provid-
ed wonderful experiences in jazz styles,
scat syllables, harmonic complexity and
improvisation for the students.” During the
past few years of Junior Vocal Jazz Festi-
vals we have done arrangements by Kirby
Shaw, Roger Emerson, Mark Hayes, Jay
Althouse, Larry Shackley, Kerry Marsh
and more! If you are looking for a place
to start, the list of District 2 repertoire will
provide you with some great ideas (see
opposite page).
Dr. James Rimington expresses his take
on the Junior Vocal Jazz Choir: “The
ILMEA District 2 Junior Vocal Jazz Experi-
ence provides a very valuable opportunity
for a group of students who are interested
in exploring the Jazz idiom. For nearly all
of the students, this is their first excursion
into doing jazz. Highly shy about ventur-
ing far from the printed notes at the be-
ginning of the day, when it comes time to
demonstrate for an audience what they
have learned about improvisation within
a piece, they always rise to the occasion.
To explore the uniquely American musical
form is important at this highly inquisitive
age. Many of these students find they can
compose music that is inside them in real
time! Truly amazing!”
Jeannie Craddock, our guest director this
past year writes, “I love that your district
includes Junior Vocal Jazz in its District
Festival! Instrumental Jazz at the junior
level has been around for a while and I be-
lieve that Vocal Jazz can learn a lesson
from them. When we start students on this
genre in junior high, we spark an interest
that might not have been there before.
Some directors may counter with the fact
that they don’t sing Vocal Jazz in their pro-
grams. For me, that is even more reason
to have Junior High Vocal Jazz! In my own
program, I don’t have a junior or senior
high Vocal Jazz Choir. However, my stu-
dents sing 1 to 3 vocal jazz pieces a year
and love it. If teachers are uncomfortable
teaching this genre because of their own
lack of exposure or experience, the Dis-
trict (Festival) is the perfect way for their
students to become familiar and they
can learn as well. The more we expose
our students to various genres, the more
well-rounded singers they will become.”
Amy Jones, the junior high choir director
from Mossville writes, “Here are some
thoughts from me and my students about
their ILMEA Junior Vocal Jazz experi-
ence: Very positive feedback from my
students who participated: “Enjoyed
spending a day with other young mu-
sicians who were serious about music
and performing.”, “Liked trying a differ-
ent style of singing.”, “The jazz rhythms
and harmonies are quite different from
most songs we do in our choir.”, “Liked
the challenge of jazz harmonies.” Amy
also writes, “Improv was a new experi-
ence for most students—many really
liked exploring this. Others were content
to be observers (perhaps happy that
they were not put on the spot). Students
always return from this event with new
confidence and enthusiasm for singing.
Many of these students grow as leaders
within our school choir. Nomination rath-
er that audition was appealing to some
students. Easier preparation for teacher
as well. Having this separate from the
concert festival allowed some students
to participate in concert and jazz choirs.
Songs have been well selected for this
event. They were pretty easy to learn
which a) made preparation manageable
for all, b) allowed the directors to focus
on musical and ensemble aspects during
rehearsals and c) allowed time to explore
improvisation on festival day. Great addi-
tion to our elementary concert. The ele-
mentary concert has a wonderful learn-
ing and growing theme to it. The vocal
jazz group fits right into that theme.”
For me and my Junior High choir mem-
bers, the Junior Vocal Jazz Choir has be-
come an event they look forward to each
year. I use the selections to teach Vocal
Jazz to my entire junior high choir wheth-
Spring 2019 | www.ilmea.org 49
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er they go to the festival or not and they
all enjoy it very much. This has lead to
having a wonderful Vocal Jazz Choir in
our high school. I credit the District Ju-
nior Vocal Jazz Choir with much of our
success in the Senior Jazz Choir.
As a forty-two year veteran music edu-
All of Me, arr. Jay Althouse
cator, I am grateful to ILMEA for all the
different opportunities my students have Bim Bom, arr. Kirby Shaw
been given in all the different musical or-
Blame It On The Bossa Nova, arr. Kirby Shaw
ganizations our festivals offer, especially
those that introduce our students to new Bring Me Sunshine, arr. Kirby Shaw
and interesting ways of making music. I Centerpiece, arr. Roger Emerson
see how it helps my own students grow
Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing, arr. R. Emerson
musically and I know it helps practicing
music educators in their development as Fascinating Rhythm, arr. Mark Hayes
well. And this is why a Junior Vocal Jazz Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop, arr. Steve Zegree
Choir fits into the ILMEA District Festi-
It’s You or No One, Kerry Marsh
vals. A Junior Vocal Jazz Choir? You bet!
Jazz Talkin’, Russell Robinson
I’ve Gotta Be Me, Larry Shackley
Robert Eckert teaches at Henry-Sen- Let’s Do It, arr. Jay Althouse
achwine Junior High School and will retire
at the end of this school year after 42 years The Pink Panther, arr. Roger Emerson
in music education.
We’ve Got a World That Swings, arr. Kerry Marsh
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