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January 19 — You may not know that some of your favorite rock and rap songs have their roots in jazz music.
For nearly four years, the West Texas Jazz Society has been teaching Permian Basin students while aiming to entertain them with performances that include some of the country’s top musicians.
On Wednesday afternoon, the West Texas Jazz Society held its annual “From Bebop to Hip-Hop” concert in the auditorium of Permian High School.
“We believe that just because we’re here in West Texas doesn’t mean we don’t have access to some of the best musicians in the world,” said Eric Baker, president of the West Texas Jazz Society. has partnered with the Midland Arts Council and the Beale Foundation to put together resources to introduce students to some of Los Angeles’ top recording artists, and bring them to school here.”
The concert featured original songs from “Taildragger Blues,” “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” “Be Alright,” and “Remember Me,” from the Disney Pixar movie “Coco.”
On Wednesday, the West Texas Jazz Society was in Permian. Today they play a concert at Midland’s Legacy High School.
They will also be giving a free concert on Friday at 7pm at the Wagner Noel Performing Arts Center.
“What we’re trying to do is connect the popular styles of music that they’re listening to today, and connect it to the rich tradition of jazz music,” said Baker. We play a mix of styles of music and try to connect those themes for young people.”
The list of guest musicians who performed this week included Andy Martin, Gary Meek, Dan Fornero, Steve Gregory, Jarrett Johnson, David Zarenga, Ernest Tibbs, Wally Minko, Aaron Janick and Billy King.
The quality of musicians includes hundreds of albums among them. Some of them have performed with artists such as Elton John, Michael Bublé and Celine Dion.
“I have a PhD in music, and I used to be a performer, traveling the world and being able to do all these things,” said West Texas Jazz Society board member and UTPB music coordinator. Dunquist of said. “I know from my own experience what a gift it is to travel and perform and meet these people. I want other people’s children to meet other musicians and hear incredible talent in their own schools.”
Johnson is a Grammy-nominated vocalist/arranger/songwriter.
His broad skill set has been featured in world-renowned musical endeavors, appearing on numerous studio recordings.
His highlights include singing and backing vocals on Grammy Awards, NBC’s ‘The Voice’, ABC’s ‘Good Morning America’ and ‘The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon’.
This isn’t the first time Johnson has performed in Odessa.
“It’s always a great time,” Johnson said. “This is my second year and being part of this tradition has been great in every way. I get to play with some of the best musicians in the country and give back and give my students the opportunity. Art is very important to us and to the future of our young people out of school, and it’s great to be a part of it.”
The Permian students sang along to several songs during the performance and entertained us.
“Having these people excited about us playing means a lot because it makes us think we’re doing the right thing,” Johnson said. The best part about is the instant gratification, you can immediately know if it’s having a positive effect on people, that’s what’s most fun for us as performers, their energy makes us I was also feeding them. It was good.”
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