August 6, 2010 - The Dave Brubeck Quartet opened for Litchfield's three day festival in Kent, Ct. with a exhilirating set featuring Dave, Bobby Militello on sax, Randy Jones on drum, and Michael Moore on bass. Following, an oversized montage of Dave, made up of thousands of photographs of musicians young and old, was auctioned to support the Litchfield Jazz Camp Scholarship Fund. Jazz'd 4 Life was thrilled to contribute proceeds from our Infinity hall concert in 2009 to give this fund a Five Thousand Dollar jumpstart. That night the huge art piece went to a lucky and generous donor, all the way from Germany, whose son has attended camp. He was moved to contribute because he said (of Dave's performance), "I have never heard music like that in my life". Dziekuje to our German friend!

August 8 2010 - Wynton Marsalis chose Dave as his special guest in a long provocative set that mixed new and old sounds on the Newport stage last Sunday.Afterwards music students from the Kipp Amp Academy on Brooklyn New York met with the two Jazz masters for a meet and greet and to get their views on what it is like to be a professional jazz musician today. Both Dave and Wynton shared their perspectives from lifelong careers, involving hard work, sacrifice and dedication to a musical art form that they love passionately. Wynton gave a spontaneous mini-seminar running down all the jazz greats that influenced him as he grew into the player he is today. "You gotta use your ears and listen, listen ,listen, and read and study whatever your mentors tell you to study. You got to be willing to practice minimum two, mostly up to six hours a day."
Dave, at age 90, emphasized that he still practices daily "to keep my fingers working....and I'm always working on new tunes and  new projects. That keeps you going."

It was a remarkable time that could not be duplicated , in a beautiful backstage setting at Fort Adams. This field trip was sponsored by Jazz'd 4 Life, for the third time since 2007. We are proud to support Kipp Academies whose network of schools promote a solid jazz music curriculum, and superior academic performance across the board.

Also reported HERE.

Many came together on Saturday February 20th 2010 to help load emergency relief supplies into a 40ft container which is now on its way to Les Cayes, Haiti. Many thanks to those who donated supplies and funds, as well as those who labored so willingly to make this happen!
We are already in the planning stages for the next container. Donations and supplies are still needed in order to keep the momentum going. As we know, the needs in Haiti are still great.

MILWAUKEE, WI (January 27, 2010)    13 year old Berj Balyozian, an 8th grader at the University

School of Milwaukee, knew he had to do something to help those affected by the devastating earthquake in Haiti. But how much impact could one young teen have? Quite a bit, apparently. Berj knew of a charity called  Jazz'd4Life based in Connecticut which is involved in long-term projects in Haiti and Africa, building schools for orphanages and wells and water filtration systems for impoverished people in those regions.  Founded by Berj's relatives, Arne and Catherine (Brubeck) Yaghzisian of Wallingford, CT,  Jazz'd 4Life was created using the power of music to raise funds for those less fortunate (Ms. Brubeck Yaghzisian is the daughter of famed jazz musician Dave Brubeck). Since the quake, the Yaghzisians have mobilized a massive relief effort to get food, medical supplies and other necessities donated for shipping to the ravaged region.

We love going to Haiti! Arne goes once a year (at least). We have many friends down there, and have had the joy of helping schools, orphanages, churches, mobile medical clinics, wells and community centers get up and running. It is our ongoing privilege to help in these efforts through fundraising concerts, merchandise sales and any other thing we can think of!

Imagine our relief to find that the school children, orphans, staff and teachers were ALL O.K. after last week’s earthquake.

However, we realized that our friends in the Les Cayes region were in the perfect position to help those who were fleeing devastated Port-au-Prince. Many have traveled to find food and shelter with relatives after their homes were ruined.

Kennedy Center next recognized pianist and composer Dave Brubeck. Musician Herbie Hancock took the stage and sited Brubeck and his experimental jazz album Time Out as his musical inspiration. Brubeck was then honored with a musical tribute. This included performances by Christina McBride, Bill Charlap, Jon Faddis, Bill Stewart and Miguel Zenon.

"Students at New England Conservatory are soon going to be taking our places in the world as professionals in entertainment industry. Instead of always focusing on our own careers, some of us thought it would be healthy to begin thinking about our responsibility to those less fortunate, and helping where we can. We can use the power of music, our talents to change the world for the better. " So says Allegra Levy, founder and President of Musicians for Humanity, a student run organization on the NEC Campus in Boston, Mass. Allegra had volunteered during the summer for Litchfield Performing Arts where she met legendary jazz musician Dave Brubeck. When she heard of the work that some Brubeck family members were doing in Haiti and other countries, as well as urban children in the U.S, she was impressed. She wanted to be a part of it. "We voted unanimously to send our concert proceeds to Jazz'd 4 Life". Their first December Concert for a Cause raised enough money to feed over 50 children at the annual Christmas Dinner in Les Cayes Haiti.And that is just the beginning of their ambitions.

Within the last twelve hours we personally have had the relieving news that the orphanage we support in Codere, the school in Les Cayes, the Mission House and our other contacts that are closer to Port-au-Prince are ALL in tact! NO injuries, or damage. As you well know that is not the case for so many.

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From "My Record Journal (3/6/09) - Learn about Jazz'd4Life and how they are making a difference in Haiti and around the world...

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J4L sponsored students from Brideport, Connecticut’s Acheivement First Academy to enjoy a fantastic day trip to Newport Jazz Festival, where they met Sonny Rollins and had an exciting music-filled experience.

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