Wayne Shorter, Paul McCandless, and John Scofield are just a few of the towering figures in the world of jazz music who discuss their individual experiences of success, struggle, musicianship and collaboration as part of a first-of-its-kind interview series created by NYU Jazz Studies Director David Schroeder. The first five interviews in the NYU Steinhardt Jazz Interview Series are available today for public viewing via YouTube.
Schroeder established the NYU Steinhardt Jazz Interview Series in 2014 with a grant from the Selma Geller Jazz Fund with the goal of creating a digital archive of interviews that will ultimately include a broad array of today’s most influential jazz figures. All interviews are recorded at Subculture in Greenwich Village before a live audience.
“We’re fortunate here in Greenwich Village to have so many of the most inspirational and important jazz musicians – several of whom are on our faculty or are alums of NYU Steinhardt, including the legendary saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter, three-time Grammy winner Gil Goldstein and SNL band leader Lenny Pickett,” said Schroeder. “This series helps us share our embarrassment of riches, but also creates a video library of interviews of jazz musicians by jazz musicians that can be accessed by any jazz enthusiast anywhere in the world, now and in the future.”
A saxophonist and jazz historian, Schroder teaches jazz history and jazz theory and serves as artistic director for the NYU Jazz Masterclass Series at NYU Steinhardt. His deep connections within the New York jazz scene have made him instrumental in developing opportunities for student performers to engage in music industry internships at such places at the Blue Note Jazz Club, Jazz at Lincoln Center and Saturday Night Live to name a few.
The first five interviews in the series include, in addition to McCandless, Shorter and Scofield, include jazz guitarist John Abercrombie and saxophonist Chris Potter. Schroeder ultimately plans to conduct 50 interviews, supported by a grant from the Geller Fund. New Interviews will be uploaded to YouTube as they get produced. To access the NYU Steinhardt Video Series, visit NYU Steinhardt Jazz YouTube Channel at:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVvYY8k7_Vaeljv6tHsVuMg
About the NYU Steinhardt Jazz Studies Program
NYU Jazz provides aspiring students advanced performance training combined with the finest academic and music courses designed to encourage entrepreneurship. The B.M., M.M. and Ph.D. programs in jazz performance and composition are geared towards performers and composers with internationally acclaimed artists and educators as well as industry executives and entrepreneurs. For more information, visit steinhardt.nyu.edu/music/jazz/.
###