May 23, 2008

Dear former IAJE California Members:

It is pretty certain that we were all very much taken aback by the announcement that our International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE) had gone bankrupt!  Those of us on your IAJE California Chapter board were very saddened by that announcement.  We felt the same sense of void that you may have felt.  It seemed the end of something that we all believed in and that we thought to be very important not only to jazz education specifically, but to the education of the next generation of musicians, citizens, and population in general.  Ultimately, we are absolutely committed to filling that void! 

There will be no more IAJE, but there will be an organization that will be dedicated to furthering the cause of jazz education in California, and perhaps beyond.  Here are the possibilities:

1.IAJE California may form a unique organization dedicated to serving the needs of jazz educators and potential jazz educators in our state.  For many years, the California Unit of IAJE has been the biggest and, we think, most effective.  You can count on your board to make decisions and take actions that are in your best interest as jazz educators.  We would strive to offer the best aspects of IAJE within our state and would count on your membership to that end.

2.There are two meetings scheduled for near the end of May.  One, consisting of many of past IAJE presidents who were responsible for creating NAJE (forerunner to IAJE) in the first place, will be meeting at the end of May to try to create a sort of follow-on to IAJE.  The second will be headed by Willie Hill,  former IAJE and MENC president.  Willie hopes to incorporate the educational aspects of IAJE into an offshoot of MENC.  Your CA board may choose to follow the lead or become integrated with something that grows out of one, or both, of those meetings.

3.Our board might cease to exist as a discreet entity and become some kind of arm of CMEA and/or CBDA.  That option would mean that jazz honor groups could continue and that we could continue to offer clinics and performances at the respective conferences of those organizations. 

So, the one thing that you can count on is that your board will make every determined effort to continue to do what is best for jazz educators in California.  Please be encouraged. Your board will do everything possible to assure that Jazz education will continue, and that the organization that supports and encourages jazz education for California will be stronger and more effective than ever! 

Yours truly,

Jeff Tower, president and

Members of the former board of IAJE California