Wilton Jameson "Jamey" Aebersold (born July 21, 1939) is an American publisher, educator, and jazz saxophonist. His Play-A-Long series of instructional books and CDs, using the
chord-scale system
The chord-scale system is a method of matching, from a list of possible chords, a list of possible scales.Mervyn Cooke, David Horn (2003). '' The Cambridge companion to jazz'', p.266. . The system has been widely used since the 1970s and is "gen ...
, the first of which was released in 1967, are an internationally renowned resource for jazz education.
His summer workshops have educated students of all ages since the 1960s.
Career
Aebersold was born in New Albany, Indiana. When he was fifteen, he played with local bands, then attended
Indiana University
Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana.
Campuses
Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI.
*Indiana Universi ...
in Bloomington while leading bands in southern Indiana and Kentucky. During the late 1960s, he taught at
Indiana University Southeast
Indiana University Southeast (locally known as IUS or IU Southeast) is a public university in New Albany, Indiana. It is a regional campus of Indiana University.
History
The Indiana University Falls City Area Center was established by Floyd ...
and in the 1970s and 1990s at the
University of Louisville
The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of ...
. He began weeklong summer workshops for students which have spread throughout the world into countries such as Canada, England, Scotland, Germany, Denmark, New Zealand, and Australia. Aebersold plays saxophone, piano, banjo, and double bass.
Play-A-Long series
Most of the volumes in Aebersold's Play-A-Long series feature a selection of ten to twelve jazz standards, though some focus on scales, standardized chord progressions (like the blues), or original compositions by Aebersold's collaborators. The books contain charts for the tunes in question, transposed as necessary for instruments in C (treble and bass clef), as well as transpositions for B-flat and E-flat instruments. The recordings feature a professional
rhythm section (typically piano, bass, and drums, occasionally including guitar) performing an improvised accompaniment (
comping) to each song. Melody instruments like saxophone and trumpet are omitted, enabling a jazz student to practice the song's melody and improvise over the chord changes with accompaniment. Piano and bass tracks are panned to opposite channels so that a pianist or bassist can easily omit the recorded piano or bass part by muting the appropriate channel.
Perhaps the most well-known feature of the "Play-A-Long" series is Aebersold's voice, which counts off the tempo for each track on most Aebersold recordings.
Thibeault (2022) documents the development of Aebersold's materials, from his first volume in 1967 and continued development over 50 years, more than 130 volumes, and with sales of over 5 million copies, concluding that Aebersold's materials helped to develop the first widespread shared idea of what a beginning jazz improvisor should be.
Workshops
For over 50 years, Aebersold has also run summer jazz workshops, historically throughout the US and internationally, and in recent years at the University of Louisville. The week-long event is billed as a place to learn jazz through hands-on experience through an intensive learning environment for musicians of varying ages and levels. The standard curriculum includes master classes, ear-training sessions, jazz theory classes from beginning to advanced, and concerts by faculty.
Aebersold regularly performs and presents clinics at the jazz festival at
Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky. The festival was renamed the Jamey Aebersold Jazz Festival in 2015 to honor his many years of service to the jazz program at that institution.
Awards and honors
* 1992 Honorary doctorate, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.
* 2004 Midwest Clinic "Medal of Honor" in Jazz Education.
* 2007 Indiana Governor's Arts Award by Mitch Daniels.
* 2009 Honorary membership in Alpha Alpha national chapter of
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America (colloquially known as Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Phi Mu Alpha, or simply Sinfonia) () is an American collegiate social fraternity for men with a special interest in music. The fraternity is open to men "w ...
.
* 2009
Charles E. Lutton Man of Music Award The Charles E. Lutton Man of Music Award is one of the highest honors awarded to members of the Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia fraternity for a lifelong achievement in uplifting the world through art and music. Its recipients include musical legends such as ...
j.
* 2014
NEA Jazz Masters
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), every year honors up to seven jazz musicians with Jazz Master Awards. The National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Fellowships are the self-proclaimed highest honors that the United States bestows upon ...
References
External links
Official siteAebersold's "Rapid Reference" lists all songs by Volume number, key, and tempoPlays Well With Others, a website on the history of the Play-A-Long with interviews and moreJamey Aebersold InterviewNAMM Oral History Library (2022)
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1939 births
Living people
People from New Albany, Indiana
American jazz educators
American music educators
Musicians from Indiana
Educators from Indiana