<p>Does anyone have any information about Rutgers (Mason Gross) for jazz studies? S2 (HS junior, trombone) has seen the Rutgers jazz trombone professor in concert at our local university, and wants to check out the program. We're not from New Jersey.</p>
<p>JazzKat - Not sure who you saw in concert. I can only speak about who I think you may be talking about - Conrad Herwig - I am casual jazz fan but I have seen this guy perform live at Rutgers a few times and he is sick player, seems to be prolific composer, tons of accomplishments, career educator. According to his dialog during the performances he has been inspired by Coltrane recently and some recent CDs reflect that. My child has attended Rutgers youth summer jazz and Conrad has been the director for some of the ensembles. For what it’s wotrth, my child has good things to say and loves the jazz youth program at Mason Gross, but is only a HS sophmore. One thing seems clear just by looking at the website - they seem to have some of the top musician’s around NYC/metro area on faculty. If your child is looking for a strong trombone player on faculty for a jazz program, I can’t imagine studying with a much higher level musician for the reasons I just stated.</p>
<p>Passing mentions in these:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/1067834-underrated-jazz-programs.html?highlight=rutgers[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/1067834-underrated-jazz-programs.html?highlight=rutgers</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/878262-looking-great-jazz-studies-program-my-son.html?highlight=rutgers[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/878262-looking-great-jazz-studies-program-my-son.html?highlight=rutgers</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/714814-jazz-studies-pros-cons-these-schools.html?highlight=rutgers[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/714814-jazz-studies-pros-cons-these-schools.html?highlight=rutgers</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/741767-jazz-performance.html?highlight=rutgers[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/741767-jazz-performance.html?highlight=rutgers</a></p>
<p>You may also look for posts by NJ Jazz Dad.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the information. We are looking for a university jazz studies program with a strong trombone player on faculty, so Rutgers definitely seems to be worth exploring.</p>
<p>jazzkat, Almost any major university with a dedicated jazz studies program will have an excellent tombone player on faculty so the it may be better to look at the colleges in general to help you choose. In NJ there is Conrad at Rutgers, Alan Ferber at Montclair State and John Mosca at William Patterson. With the nearby NY jazz scene the conservatories in Manhattan also have excellent staff. Two random ideas (not knowing where you are located) are Harry Watters at George Mason University (trust me he is amazing and seems a great teacher having attended his Master class at the Eastern Trombone Workshop last year) also Nathan Tanouye at UNLV would be worth looking at on the west coast as that program seems to be very strong.</p>
<p>My son was sick with the flu and could not attend his audition for drumset this year. When I called they said there was no option to reschedule for illness and that they had 17 drummers to audition that day, they would rank the top 10 and they were only taking 1. They were planning on going down the top ten list until someone accepted. I am curious to find out if any CC jazz drummers were one of the 17 and if anyone from CC got the single spot!</p>
<p>I have to put in a plug here for the University of Nevada/Reno. It has a great jazz program. The Director of Bands and low brass professor is a childhood friend of mine and a fabulous trombone player/teacher, A.G. “Mack” McGrannahan. He has won numerous awards over the years.</p>