>> Larry Rosen: You know, Jazz Roots to me is a way of getting out to audiences all across
the country.
Just about everything out of our American popular music is in some way based on jazz.
So it's really our culture; it's our classical music.
So my thing was... create Jazz Roots, and see if I could spread this all across the
country.
>> Tom Rowland: Larry Rosen's Jazz Roots series is a natural progression of the arts education
done at the foundation.
The ability to bring in hundreds of students to see Grammy award-winning artists at the
Cobb Energy Center, as well as sellout crowds to experience this uniquely American art form.
>> LR: I felt education was such a natural component of this and we said we're gonna
create a program for every show that we do.
We're gonna bring at least 150 kids from local schools to every one of the shows.
And we're gonna send the artists out into the schools.
>> Al Jarreau: All of us singers who improvise learn so much from the great horn players,
from the great piano players, and great guitar players.
>> William Earvin: Having him come here and to kinda tell the young kids what it means
to him to be a musician, and what music means to him, individually, it expressed to the
students what they're doing can take them anywhere they want to go in the world.
>> Jordan: It's not every day that you get to sit and play with a living legend here
-- All Jarreau.
Just from his master class alone I can't wait to go home and practice and incorporate some
of the things that he said.
Like how he's able to improvise based off of the different sounds that he hears, throughout
all genres of music.
It's just a great experience altogether, and I'm really still a bit excited over it.
>> Ramsey Lewis: I realize that the future of the music is in their hands.
And if they don't connect with the music, if I don't connect with them, then they're
not gonna tell their peers "Man you really missed it, or you should've been there" blah
blah, and that pushes the music forward.
>> AJ: It's a very big part of what you do: visualizing.
Seeing where you want to be.
If you don't visualize it and see it, it can't happen.
>> RL: I hope by the Jazz Roots program, it takes foot across the country because many
of our stars came from the public school system.
So I think it's a very good thing.
It can only spread and get better.
>> AJ: I'm just a kid from Milwaukee.
And I love the star on walk of fame in Hollywood.
People come by there from Milwaukee and point to my star and say "Yeah, that's Al Jarreau,
and he puts his shoes and pants on one leg and one shoe at a time just like me.
I can do that...I can do that."
>> LR: And when those kids come to the shows, we want them to come to the sound check.
We want them to see what happens behind the scene.
You know, a lot of these young folks would never even enter a performing arts center.
Maybe their parents were never in a performing arts center.
So I feel like we're breaking down barriers.
>> Michael Taormina: Everything we do is really for the kids, all our programs.
The Jazz Roots programming is a unique experience because they get to work directly with the
artists.
>> Chiyenne: In the sound check, oh my goodness, it was so amazing to see how they put everything
together, how they do it.
I've never been to a sound check before, and I think it's really cool.
>> Joseph Heiberger: As a music educator, I don't often get a chance to spend time teaching
my students about improvisation or musical composition.
Therefore, nights like tonight are a great opportunity for me to share improvisation
and musical composition with my students.
Because Jazz is instantaneous composition.
>> Akira: I'm really grateful to see Al Jarreau and Ramsey Lewis perform.
>> TR: It's just very gratifying to see the excitement that these kids have when they
come to the center to see these Jazz performers.
>> Victoria: I'm really, really grateful for having this opportunity to be here and to
see all the musicians here and being able to learn from them.
>> Chiyenne: I'm very thankful to Jazz Roots for letting us come here and letting us see
them perform.
Not a lot of people get this opportunity.