TUESDAY, JUNE 6, 2017
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THE DAILY NEBRASKAN JAZZ IN JUNE
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Front page file photo by Julian Tirtadjaja |dn Stan Raetz of Jazzocracy plays the saxophone.
PACE WOODS FOUNDATION
T H A N K YO U TO T H E JAZZ IN JUNE ADVISORY BOARD LEE & DEBBIE STUART FAMILY FOUNDATION
MARTHA FLORENCE, Program Committee Chair Director of Community Engagement, NET Television BILL STEPHAN, Advisory Board Chair Executive Director, Lied Center
Downtown Lincoln Association, American Red Cross, Lincoln Journal Star
FOOD SPONSORS Chipotle, Noodles & Co, The Hub Cafe, Runza, Toppers, Dish, Jimmy Jonhs, Parthenon, Raising Canes, Buzzard Billy’s
TODD OGDEN Downtown Lincoln Association LIZBETH A. BAVITZ Principal Architect, Sinclair Hille Architects
SPENCER MUNSON, Jazz in June Coordinator
RANDY HAWTHORNE Executive Director & Publisher, Nonprofit Hub
NATALIE STROUD Director of Business Services, Lied Center
LARRY WILLIAMS Malone Community Center
JACQUELINE TOMAN Sheldon Museum of Art PAUL HARR Professor, Glenn Korff School of Music
RACHEL O’DONNELL Lincoln Chamber of Commerce DON’T MISS OUR UPCOMING JAZZ IN JUNE SHOWS FEATURING... JUNE 13 The Omaha Project ft. Victor Lewis JUNE 20 Terence Blanchard ft. the e-collective JUNE 27 The Rad Trads
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THE DAILY NEBRASKAN JAZZ IN JUNE
Julian Tirtadjaja | dn Andrew Janak is a UNL graduate student who has been involved in the Chicago jazz scene.
UNL alum Andrew Janak returns to teach music, hopes to create more interest in jazz Gayle Rocz staff writer
For one University of Nebraska-Lincoln graduate student, jazz music is everything. It
has taken him on a journey through the Lincoln music scene all the way to one of America’s premier jazz cities: Chicago. It’s a passion he hopes to bring to the classroom and the Lincoln community.
Andrew Janak has been writing and performing original jazz music since he was a sophomore in high school. He said he has composed about 80 pieces of music over the years, though he said he wouldn’t dream of
showing some of them to anyone. “There are a lot of songs that I would never ever perform anymore that I wrote when I
SEE JANAK: PAGE 5
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Margaret Davenport | dn The Chicago Dog and the Fly Dog at Fly Dogz, a new hot dog restaurant at 3111 O St., Suite D, Lincoln, Neb.
Local business transitions from delivery service to restaurant Before Fly Dogz opened on March 20, the city of Lincoln didn’t have any standing hot dogfocused restaurants. After owning a few community kitchens and running Fly Dogz exclusively as a delivery service, Marcus Pierson decided to take it to the next step and own his own restaurant delivering what Lincoln was lacking: hot dogs. The new restaurant is located at 3111 O Street near Woods Park. Not only did Pierson see this as a way to immediately draw a crowd, but he also said he made the decision as a business tactic, as it would leave him with no direct competition. “As long as the quality of the food and our guest service flies above the rest, this will remain
an advantage even if direct competition does come,” Pierson said. The last hot dog-centric restaurant in Lincoln, Peyton’s Best located at 1601 Q Street, closed its doors before hitting the one-year anniversary in 2016. But that didn’t stop Pierson from opening his restaurant. What sets Fly Dogz apart, Pierson said, is the restaurant’s devotion to using fresh, handmade ingredients, including the buns they bake themselves. The restaurant also offers pick-up and a delivery service. “It’s a place where you can have fun, listen to good music and always find great conversation,” he said.
And the customers seem to agree. Sami Schmit, a second-year professional student at the University of Nebraska College of Law, said she was curious to check out Fly Dogz after hearing about it. Schmit said the staff at Fly Dogz were super friendly and personable—something she said makes Fly Dogz unique. “[The staff] are very humorous and more importantly it’s genuine,” she said. Schmit visited Fly Dogz with her boyfriend, Brandon Segelke. Segelke said the store was very personalized. Segelke ordered the Seattle Dog and Schmit ordered the Nas Dog; two specialty menu items.
“Many restaurants have some similar qualities but Fly Dogz really stands out,” he said. Pierson said he’s excited about how much attention Fly Dogz has already been getting, considering the restaurant opened in March. He said he hopes the restaurant’s popularity will remain strong. “I think Fly Dogz is going to play a big part in the Lincoln’s scene,” Pierson said. “We have been here for three months and the buzz is crazy.” While Pierson does have plans to expand the restaurant, for now he said he’ll stick to his main focus of providing to the local community, starting with Jazz in June. Pierson said he has a goal of being a part
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THE DAILY NEBRASKAN JAZZ IN JUNE of the event in any way Fly Dogz can, whether through being a vendor or any other way. He plans on setting up plenty of tailgate stands for local events as far into the year as November. “This always brings new and returning business to the shop,” Pierson said.
While it is still early for Fly Dogz, Pierson has plenty of hope that it will be here to stay despite the hot dog track record in Lincoln. “As long as we don’t forget our guest service and quality, the sky is the limit,” he said.
JANAK: FROM PAGE 3 was 16,” Janak said. “They’re finished compositions, but it was just part of the process.” It seems that Janak has perfected the process, considering he now composes music not only for his own personal use, but also for professional and school bands who reach out to him. Although Janak’s instrument of choice is a saxophone, he said he always composes on a piano, messing around with melodies and basslines until he hears something he can latch onto. During his time at UNL, he played in school-sanctioned groups, as well as alongside fellow students in the Lincoln community almost every Friday night. By the time he graduated in the spring of 2012, he was a much more experienced jazz musician, which frequently bled into his compositions. “Throughout my undergrad I got more into it, and by the end I was writing quite a bit,” Janak said. Janak described those four years as formative, saying the hands-on experience of playing in jazz groups inside and outside of UNL combined with the structure of classes fostered his growth. “[UNL and Lincoln] was a great, supportive community with great musicians to be around,” Janak said. Janak moved to Chicago in the fall of 2012 to attend DePaul University to study jazz composition. He said the program appealed to him because it was larger than UNL’s program. When he was in Chicago, Janak said he attended multiple jam sessions, a tradition in jazz music. During a typical jam session, a house band will play a few songs, followed by an open microphone for any musician to go up and call a song. Janak said these jam sessions were great for networking, which he also said is a fundamental aspect of being a part of any music community. “In a city like Chicago, there’s just so much music of all kinds,” Janak said. He said networking is eventually what led to a consistent gig. He played for a year and a half with a band he formed called Andrew Janak & the Wind Armada. They played Janak’s original compositions every Monday night at a bar called Phyllis’ Musical Inn in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago. Janak also put his bachelor’s degree to use while in Chicago by doing freelance teaching at different schools and music stores. “I did that for a while, but I knew eventually I wanted to be a college professor,” Janak
said. So he decided to move back to Lincoln in the fall of 2015 to work on his doctorate degree in jazz studies/composition at UNL. Janak is now a graduate teaching assistant at UNL, responsible for both hands-on teaching of undergraduate music groups and helping coordinate different events put on by the Glenn Korff School of Music. He said college teaching is something he really enjoys, and the importance of a good music teacher is incredible. “I have a long list of inspiring teachers who went above and beyond what they had to do to help me,” Janak said. “The least I can do is pay it forward.” Among these teachers is Paul Haar, an associate professor of saxophone and the director of jazz studies at UNL, who began teaching Janak when he was a freshman in 2008. As one of his teachers, Haar has seen him grow and mature into the musician he is today. “His knowledge base has grown, as has his maturity as a writer and soloist,” Haar said. “He is a world-class performer with tremendous harmonic knowledge and complexity of sound.” Haar said there are many qualities Janak possesses that will make him a professor who will be able to help and inspire his students, including his personality and skill. “He can do the work at a very high level,” Haar said. “He has the ability to relate information well to students [because] he is easy and friendly.” Janak said he wants his teaching and playing to go hand-in-hand, which he said is expected of professors. He said he enjoys sharing his music with people because it is through performing his original compositions that he is at his most vulnerable. “That sense of vulnerability and connection with an audience is what drew me to jazz specifically,” Janak said. “It’s my favorite part of it.” He said one of his goals in returning to Lincoln is to make great jazz music, and to get it more exposed to the general public. “I want to keep being an active performer and writer,” Janak said. Janak said performing in Chicago versus performing in Lincoln isn’t all that different, but he said Chicago’s public might be generally more interested in jazz music. He said he hopes to change this because a lot of great music is being made in the Lincoln jazz community. “The best players [in Lincoln] are as good as anywhere,” Janak said.
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Courtesy photo LaFrae Sci teaches workshops on music. Sci said she uses jazz to empower women and teach entrepreneurship, as well as other socioeconomic skills.
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Courtesy photo by Kate Milford
Groove Diplomacy connects local, international communities through music Ally Sargus staff writer
As a cultural ambassador for the U.S. State Department, LaFrae Sci has travelled to 35 countries, as a composer, drummer and most importantly, an educator. Through her experience in the program, Sci gained a desire of using music to strengthen global connections. Sci said the State Department sent jazz musicians to places around the world to unite the States with other nations. She said the goal was “to try to build bridges and mutual understandings through this music that so many people love.” Her involvement in the international program led her to launch Groove Diplomacy, a non-profit, non-governmental organization that creates music-based programming for
all ages. The organization focuses primarily on the use of music to build communication and empowerment among people, rather than amusing the audience. “I think our society mostly values music for its entertainment,” Sci said. “But as an African American, the tradition of music has been so much about building community, healing and telling personal expression.” Groove Diplomacy is an organization in which music and life go hand in hand to promote diversity and create unity within local and international communities by gaining mutual understandings. Recently, Groove Diplomacy collaborated with the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala to create programming that bridges Black History Month and Women’s History Month in early spring. With the indigenous culture in Guatemala, Sci said she considered various groups to be involved with the international work-
shops and masterclasses, including her allfemale band, Sonic Black. “I decided to take an all-female band [internationally] because it’s very empowering for women to see other women doing things that they’ve never seen women do when you go to other cultures,” she said. Although each masterclass is different, the basic elements of each class includes interaction of people, active participation and creating in a group setting. According to Lakecia Benjamin, saxophonist for Sonic Black, each class gives participants a historical standpoint on jazz music and provides context. “The music is directly tied to the social and political climate of that time period,” Benjamin said. “The master class gives the students not only a chance to learn about playing jazz, blues and the theory behind it, but also a chance to understand that music
was a reflection of the culture.” When it comes to teaching workshops, Sci uses her experience with music as an entrepreneur to emphasize the importance of developing ideas and concepts. She also incorporates spirituality, like meditation or elements of mindfulness. “I really believe that music can change people and that vibrations are very much a part of music as well,” Sci said. “Our bodies are 60 to 90 percent water, and water really takes on vibrations where you can have a positive or negative effect depending on what types of vibrations you choose.” Benjamin first heard of Groove Diplomacy from some work Sci had done in Russia on a state department tour. The work in Russia expanded over a 10-month time period where Sci commuted found herself commuting back and forth between Siberia and New York about every two to three months.
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THE DAILY NEBRASKAN JAZZ IN JUNE By bringing together jazz orchestras, jazz musicians and rock musicians from all different backgrounds, they were able to empower the community and create an 80-piece orchestra in Siberia, a place which once lacked
jazz music. “Music is important because thing that connects everyone,” said. “It’s the one force that heals as a musician, I feel it’s our jobs to
it’s someBenjamin us all, and be healers
through this platform.” Benjamin said she’s learned a lot from her experiences with Groove Diplomacy, and she hopes others are able to learn from it, too. “If we can come together in peace and
have open, unjudged dialogue, we would all start to see we have more similarities than differences,” she said. news@dailynebraskan.com
courtesy photo
LaFrae Sci’s music educates, resonates with diverse groups of people Alex Paun staff writer
LaFrae Sci is dead set on a mission with no signs of slowing down: using music to educate
and inspire people across the world. Sci’s endeavors include conducting an orchestra in Russia, serving as a cultural ambassador for the United States State Department, starting the Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls and founding Groove Diplomacy, a nonprofit, non-government
organization. Best described as a collective of musical educators spearheaded by Sci, Groove Diplomacy consists of several bands including her bands Sonic Black and 13th Amendment?, which create teaching units about various social issues to en-
gage with different audiences. Sci said music’s all-encompassing nature stirs her passion for using jazz as a way to educate others on a variety of socioeconomic issues like entre-
SEE LAFRAE: PAGE 11
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Zoo Bar welcomes Jazz in June artists to perform with The Jazzocracy J O I N T H E JA Z Z I N J U N E R H Y T H M C L U B and help bring the greatest Jazz musicians in the world to Nebraska! Your membership allows all Nebraskans to experience distinctive jazz performances in the great outdoors of the Sheldon Sculpture Garden on the beautiful University of Nebraska campus. As a community arts organization, we rely on private support for as much as 90 % of our annual revenue. Member dollars allow Jazz in June to keep the creative spirit of the music alive through a wide range of performances and programs that promote education, encourage intercultural exchange and support the local economy. Through your Tax-Deductible membership, you will: • Provide once-in-a-lifetime moments for thousands of Nebraskans • Connect with fellow Jazz lovers and receive invitations to exclusive social events • Receive free merchandise and music For more info stop by the Jazz in June booth on the west steps of the Sheldon or visit jazzinjune.com.
Julian Tirtadjaja | dn Will Roper STAFF WRITER
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Jazz in June has arrived, and one of Lincoln’s premier venues for live music will help celebrate the weekly jazz jamboree. Nearly every Tuesday during the month of June, Zoo Bar, located on 14th Street in the heart of downtown Lincoln, will host its house jazz band The Jazzocracy alongside Jazz in June musicians on June 6, 13 and 27. The shows will take place after the main festival outside the Sheldon Art Museum has ended around 9 p.m., allowing Lincoln jazz enthusiasts to continue the festivities. Live blues and jazz music have been the lifeblood of the venue, with local, national and international musicians like Luther Allison, Magic Slim and Buddy Guy jamming in its halls for almost half a century. It seems only right, then, that the house jazz band commemorate Jazz in June. The Jazzocracy, a staple in Lincoln’s jazz scene, was formed roughly 10 years ago, allowing relatively quiet Tuesday nights at Zoo to be filled with cool, genuine jazz music. Mitchell Benson, bass player for the band and University of Nebraska-Lincoln graduate, said The Jazzocracy has given him an outlet to continue performing. “It was so good to have a reason to continue playing jazz outside of school,” Benson said. Benson said The Jazzocracy plays classic and modern jazz tunes, allowing members to groove on a melody or branch out and showcase their improvisation skills.
“Somebody will call a tune from the stage, and we’ll play the big melody,” Benson said. “But then, most of the time everybody will go through a solo. Some guys will say something real quick and get out of it, and other dudes will take their time.” The band, while comprised of more permanent members, also invites other jazz players to sit in and play alongside them. “Maybe they’ve been working on a tune, and they have these ideas and want to try it; or they just want to blues,” Benson said. “It’s a fun way to reach out to other people.” Benson said The Jazzocracy usually takes a break during the month of June because Tuesday evenings are already filled with jazz music outside the Sheldon Museum of Art on campus. This year, the group is attempting a new game plan to get involved with the city-wide jazz festivities, one based on the idea of having Jazz in June performers sit in with the band at Zoo Bar after the main shows. Benson said local DJ Faruq Foster and Jazz in June coordinator Spencer Munson were the people who concocted the idea of having Jazz in June performers continue into the night at the Zoo Bar. Benson said he and the band were immediately on board with the suggestion. “[Munson] and Faruq talked a little bit and thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if The Jazzocracy would play on Tuesdays,’ and we could advertise to the Jazz in June crowd,” Benson said. And, he said, there will be plenty of performers who would love to continue playing the night at the prestigious Zoo Bar. From its small beginnings as a rough dive bar in 1973, Zoo Bar has built a reputation as the place
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THE DAILY NEBRASKAN JAZZ IN JUNE to be for pure blues and jazz music in Nebraska. Originally called Bourbon Lounge, founding co-owner Jim Ludwig decided to rename the bar after a favorite song of his, according to Jim Cunningham, a bartender and manager for Zoo Bar from 1974 until 1979. “He really liked the song, ‘At the Zoo,’ and so he named his bar the Zoo Bar,” Cunningham said. “And the last song in the lower right corner of the jukebox was Simon and Garfunkel’s, ‘At the Zoo.’” According to Cunningham, contrary to Simon and Garfunkel’s lyric, “It’s all happening at the zoo,” Zoo Bar wasn’t making any money for Ludwig in the early months of 1973 until he was introduced to an art student named Larry Boehmer. “Larry went to Jim after he went to work for him and said, ‘Give me a row on the jukebox for my records, and I will bring business in,’” Cunningham said. “They were all blues records.” Bill Swearingen, an early patron of Zoo Bar, said Boehmer understood how to bring people into Ludwig’s upstart bar.
“Boehmer realized that the blues as an art form in the ‘70s was dying,” Swearingen said. “Boehmer’s attitude was that, for this art form to continue to exist, there has to be venues that want blues performers.” After Boehmer established a sturdy collection of blues tracks in the jukebox, it was only a matter of time before live blues and jazz performers found themselves within the narrow corridor of Zoo Bar. Like the past four decades, it’ll be happening “At the Zoo” on Tuesdays this June. Benson said he’s looking forward to performing jazz with prestigious Jazz in June players in front of nighttime Lincoln crowds. “The scene is good, people are coming and playing every week and we want them to be a part of it,” Benson said. “They can have a great experience, and realize that when they go back to wherever they play normally, they have it in their mind to come back to Lincoln and the Zoo Bar.”
LAFRAE: FROM PAGE 9 preneurship and women’s empowerment. “To be honest, I feel like it’s a duty to be a service to my community and the world,” Sci said. Sci was born in Okinawa, Japan. Her father, a New York native, served in the Air Force and her mother, a dance choreographer, was from southern Georgia. Her father’s service required her family to move constantly, something she credits for her appreciation of different cultures. Although she grew up with a musical background, Sci did not pursue music until college. Sci was originally a political theory and economics double major at Oberlin College in Ohio, but she found herself uninterested with school. She eventually took a break from school and moved back to Dayton, Ohio, her hometown, where she found a job at Cityfolk, a now-defunct local arts programming organization. While working with Cityfolk’s jazz series, she met some well-known jazz artists, including Benny Harris, which ignited her love for the genre. “I went back to school with a new inspiration,” Sci said, who then finished her degree while also taking music composition classes through Oberlin College’s Conservatory of Music. In 2014, Sci started Groove Diplomacy after being pushed by a mentor. “He was aware of my level of work in terms of using music to communicate,” Sci said. While she knew the direction she wanted to take her project, Sci said she had to figure out the business side of the music industry on her own. “I had to ask around about the legal, financial and structural side,” Sci said. “But I knew what I wanted to do and had no doubts.” Spencer Munson, the Jazz in June coordinator, handpicked Sci and Sonic Black to perform at the festival after being “enthralled” by their performance at Winter Jazzfest in New York City in January. “LaFrae just had a way with words and was getting up between each song and explaining its relevance,” Munson said. “And you rarely see a bandleader who is a drummer, much less a woman.”
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Courtesy photo Munson said he hopes Sci’s message for empowerment will resonate with a diverse group of people at Jazz in June, especially Lincoln’s underserved populations. “A lot of people feel that appreciators of jazz are inaccessible compared to other groups,” Munson said. “LaFrae breaks down the struggle of African Americans and women in the music industry to show how it’s not a high or low class art form, it’s for everybody.” In terms of where she can take her projects, Sci said she is confident things will only get bigger. “So far I don’t feel like there is a limit to what I can accomplish,” she said. “It feels like it’s building and building.”
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THE DAILY NEBRASKAN JAZZ IN JUNE
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THE DAILY NEBRASKAN JAZZ IN JUNE
Fly Dogz offers customers unique hot dogs and extraordinary service Margaret Davenport staff writer
Hot dogs are a point of contention in my family. Most of my family members are from the Chicago area, where it is borderline illegal to put ketchup on your dog. But I love ketchup on hot dogs (I love everything on hot dogs), and I believe if you think ketchup belongs on a hot dog, you should do just that. Sorry, Dad. Aside from the occasional Husker game, there are no restaurants in Lincoln which specialize in serving a good hot dog. Thankfully, Fly Dogz opened in March with that in mind. Located at 3111 O St., Fly Dogz specializes in hot dogs with toppings of all kinds. Dogs are categorized into “coach,” “business class” and “first class,” with the price and quality increasing from one category to the next. Coach dogs are $2.99, business $3.99, first class $4.99, and each type of dog comes with unlimited toppings, meaning you could pay $2.99 for a coach dog and just get ketchup and mustard. Alternatively, you could add chili, cheese, sauerkraut, corn chips, barbecue sauce and more. The list of toppings is extensive. The restaurant also has a selection of specialty hot dogs you can get with any type of dog (with the exception of the Fly dog) in case you can’t decide what toppings you want. Every hot dog is cooked to order, and vegetarian and gluten-free options are available, too. You can also upgrade your hot dog to a meal with chips and a drink. I chose the Chicago dog, with a hot link (business class) and a Fly dog, which automatically comes as a jumbo dog (first class). The Chicago dog has mustard, relish, on-
ion, pickle, pepperoncinis, tomato and celery salt. The Fly dog has lettuce, tomato, onions, jalapeños, cream cheese and nacho cheese served on a hamburger bun. Both dogs were loaded with their respective toppings and cooked to order, meaning the wait for the dog was longer than a minute, but it was worth it. Both dogs had the iconic snap of the casing when bitten into, producing a cascade of savoriness that complimented the sweet and spicy toppings perfectly, especially the Chicago dog. While the dogs are fantastic, the best part about Fly Dogz is the service. I’ve visited countless restaurants and had amazing service at numerous places, but the man behind the counter at Fly Dogz blew me away. The kindness that radiated from him left me in a good mood the rest of the afternoon, and he insisted on throwing away my dirty napkin and plate when I was finished, even though I could have walked to the trash can and thrown it away myself. I could tell how passionate he was about the business, and it made me love my experience more. The inside of the restaurant is charming, with murals of humanoid hot dogs going on adventures and a chalkboard wall sitting opposite the counter, which guests can doodle on as they wait for their meal. It’s casual, fast and very cute. The hot dogs and atmosphere at Fly Dogz are both very good, but it was the service that made my experience truly great. Another unique aspect to Fly Dogz are its unique hours. Its regular hours are 11 a.m. until 2 p.m.,Monday through Saturday. It is also open again from 5 p.m. until 11 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. On Wednesday it is open until 10 p.m., 2 a.m. on
“[The hot] dogs had the iconic snap of the casing when bitten into, producing a cascade of savoriness that complimented the sweet and spicy toppings perfectly...”
Margaret Davenport | dn Fly Dogz is a new hot dog restaurant in Lincoln, located at 3111 O St. Suite D. Friday and 2:30 a.m. on Saturday. The restaurant delivers and caters across Lincoln, and if its catering is anything like the restaurant, I’m certain it will be wonderful.
This place will make you fall in love with hot dogs all over again. Daily Nebraskan score: 4.75/5 stars
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THE DAILY NEBRASKAN JAZZ IN JUNE
File photo
Despite UNL budget cuts, Jazz in June is here to stay Mia Everding staff writer
The annual Jazz in June event has been a Lincoln community staple for more than 25 years. As the coordinators prepare for the coming season of weekly concerts, they will also look at the question of sponsorship and funding. Jazz in June coordinator Spencer Munson said his experience with the event dates
back to his time as a Nebraska Wesleyan University student during the early 2000s. “I have vivid memories of going to Jazz in June with my friends while I was a student,” he said. But according to Munson, like anything, the future for Jazz in June is unclear. Because of the uncertainty regarding budget cuts to the University of Nebraska, Munson said Jazz in June may lose sponsorship money from UNL. However, because of the diverse array of contributors supporting
Jazz in June, Munson said the event will not be in jeopardy. “If one source of funding disappears, we fall back on another,” Munson said. Bill Stephan, the Jazz in June advisory board chair, said the event has a bright future. “[Jazz in June] is one of the most consistent art traditions in Lincoln,” Stephan said. He also said when people ask about events in Lincoln, Jazz in June is mentioned as something the community and UNL takes
pride in. While events like Jazz in June occur in cities all over the U.S., Munson said Lincoln’s event shows a unique partnership between the city and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. “[Jazz in June] brings culture to Lincoln,” Munson said. But funding the event is a key part of the work done as a coordinator, Munson said. While there is support from the city of Lincoln and UNL, Munson said there is also
TUESDAY, JUNE 6, 2017 • 15
THE DAILY NEBRASKAN JAZZ IN JUNE generous support from corporate sponsors. Some of those sponsors are the Lincoln Community Foundation, the Lee and Debbie Stuart Family Foundation, Embassy Suites and Union Bank and Trust. Sponsors are acknowledged by having their names printed in the event programs and having their names announced on stage at the event. Additionally, those working for Jazz in June can apply for grants to keep the event thriving. In addition to the funding, Munson said a bucket is passed around at each concert for donations. There is also a membership program, Rhythm Club, which provides members with exclusive events and meet-and-greets with
the artists. Munson said this is an opportunity for individuals to contribute and be recognized as integral parts of Jazz in June. Beyond the sponsorships and uncertainty of the future, Stephan said the combination of world-class jazz and the place where the concerts take place, including a sculpture garden, makes a great tradition. “There’s a lot of pride and ownership in the program,” he said. With new ways of investing in the event and growing programs out of the event, Stephan said there are always ways to enhance the experience. “People travel to Lincoln to see Jazz in June,” he said. “It will continue to be one of the gems of Lincoln.”
“There’s a lot of pride and ownership in [Jazz in June].”
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Front page file photo by Julian Tirtadjaja |dn Stan Raetz of Jazzocracy plays the saxophone.
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T H A N K YO U TO T H E JAZZ IN JUNE ADVISORY BOARD LEE & DEBBIE STUART FAMILY FOUNDATION
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FOOD SPONSORS Chipotle, Noodles & Co, The Hub Cafe, Runza, Toppers, Dish, Jimmy Jonhs, Parthenon, Raising Canes, Buzzard Billy’s
TODD OGDEN Downtown Lincoln Association LIZBETH A. BAVITZ Principal Architect, Sinclair Hille Architects
SPENCER MUNSON, Jazz in June Coordinator
RANDY HAWTHORNE Executive Director & Publisher, Nonprofit Hub
NATALIE STROUD Director of Business Services, Lied Center
LARRY WILLIAMS Malone Community Center
JACQUELINE TOMAN Sheldon Museum of Art PAUL HARR Professor, Glenn Korff School of Music
RACHEL O’DONNELL Lincoln Chamber of Commerce DON’T MISS OUR UPCOMING JAZZ IN JUNE SHOWS FEATURING... JUNE 13 The Omaha Project ft. Victor Lewis JUNE 20 Terence Blanchard ft. the e-collective JUNE 27 The Rad Trads
TUESDAY, JUNE 6, 2017 • 3
THE DAILY NEBRASKAN JAZZ IN JUNE
Julian Tirtadjaja | dn Andrew Janak is a UNL graduate student who has been involved in the Chicago jazz scene.
UNL alum Andrew Janak returns to teach music, hopes to create more interest in jazz Gayle Rocz staff writer
For one University of Nebraska-Lincoln graduate student, jazz music is everything. It
has taken him on a journey through the Lincoln music scene all the way to one of America’s premier jazz cities: Chicago. It’s a passion he hopes to bring to the classroom and the Lincoln community.
Andrew Janak has been writing and performing original jazz music since he was a sophomore in high school. He said he has composed about 80 pieces of music over the years, though he said he wouldn’t dream of
showing some of them to anyone. “There are a lot of songs that I would never ever perform anymore that I wrote when I
SEE JANAK: PAGE 5
4 TUESDAY, JUNE 6, 2017
THE DAILY NEBRASKAN JAZZ IN JUNE
Margaret Davenport | dn The Chicago Dog and the Fly Dog at Fly Dogz, a new hot dog restaurant at 3111 O St., Suite D, Lincoln, Neb.
Local business transitions from delivery service to restaurant Before Fly Dogz opened on March 20, the city of Lincoln didn’t have any standing hot dogfocused restaurants. After owning a few community kitchens and running Fly Dogz exclusively as a delivery service, Marcus Pierson decided to take it to the next step and own his own restaurant delivering what Lincoln was lacking: hot dogs. The new restaurant is located at 3111 O Street near Woods Park. Not only did Pierson see this as a way to immediately draw a crowd, but he also said he made the decision as a business tactic, as it would leave him with no direct competition. “As long as the quality of the food and our guest service flies above the rest, this will remain
an advantage even if direct competition does come,” Pierson said. The last hot dog-centric restaurant in Lincoln, Peyton’s Best located at 1601 Q Street, closed its doors before hitting the one-year anniversary in 2016. But that didn’t stop Pierson from opening his restaurant. What sets Fly Dogz apart, Pierson said, is the restaurant’s devotion to using fresh, handmade ingredients, including the buns they bake themselves. The restaurant also offers pick-up and a delivery service. “It’s a place where you can have fun, listen to good music and always find great conversation,” he said.
And the customers seem to agree. Sami Schmit, a second-year professional student at the University of Nebraska College of Law, said she was curious to check out Fly Dogz after hearing about it. Schmit said the staff at Fly Dogz were super friendly and personable—something she said makes Fly Dogz unique. “[The staff] are very humorous and more importantly it’s genuine,” she said. Schmit visited Fly Dogz with her boyfriend, Brandon Segelke. Segelke said the store was very personalized. Segelke ordered the Seattle Dog and Schmit ordered the Nas Dog; two specialty menu items.
“Many restaurants have some similar qualities but Fly Dogz really stands out,” he said. Pierson said he’s excited about how much attention Fly Dogz has already been getting, considering the restaurant opened in March. He said he hopes the restaurant’s popularity will remain strong. “I think Fly Dogz is going to play a big part in the Lincoln’s scene,” Pierson said. “We have been here for three months and the buzz is crazy.” While Pierson does have plans to expand the restaurant, for now he said he’ll stick to his main focus of providing to the local community, starting with Jazz in June. Pierson said he has a goal of being a part
TUESDAY, JUNE 6, 2017 • 5
THE DAILY NEBRASKAN JAZZ IN JUNE of the event in any way Fly Dogz can, whether through being a vendor or any other way. He plans on setting up plenty of tailgate stands for local events as far into the year as November. “This always brings new and returning business to the shop,” Pierson said.
While it is still early for Fly Dogz, Pierson has plenty of hope that it will be here to stay despite the hot dog track record in Lincoln. “As long as we don’t forget our guest service and quality, the sky is the limit,” he said.
JANAK: FROM PAGE 3 was 16,” Janak said. “They’re finished compositions, but it was just part of the process.” It seems that Janak has perfected the process, considering he now composes music not only for his own personal use, but also for professional and school bands who reach out to him. Although Janak’s instrument of choice is a saxophone, he said he always composes on a piano, messing around with melodies and basslines until he hears something he can latch onto. During his time at UNL, he played in school-sanctioned groups, as well as alongside fellow students in the Lincoln community almost every Friday night. By the time he graduated in the spring of 2012, he was a much more experienced jazz musician, which frequently bled into his compositions. “Throughout my undergrad I got more into it, and by the end I was writing quite a bit,” Janak said. Janak described those four years as formative, saying the hands-on experience of playing in jazz groups inside and outside of UNL combined with the structure of classes fostered his growth. “[UNL and Lincoln] was a great, supportive community with great musicians to be around,” Janak said. Janak moved to Chicago in the fall of 2012 to attend DePaul University to study jazz composition. He said the program appealed to him because it was larger than UNL’s program. When he was in Chicago, Janak said he attended multiple jam sessions, a tradition in jazz music. During a typical jam session, a house band will play a few songs, followed by an open microphone for any musician to go up and call a song. Janak said these jam sessions were great for networking, which he also said is a fundamental aspect of being a part of any music community. “In a city like Chicago, there’s just so much music of all kinds,” Janak said. He said networking is eventually what led to a consistent gig. He played for a year and a half with a band he formed called Andrew Janak & the Wind Armada. They played Janak’s original compositions every Monday night at a bar called Phyllis’ Musical Inn in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago. Janak also put his bachelor’s degree to use while in Chicago by doing freelance teaching at different schools and music stores. “I did that for a while, but I knew eventually I wanted to be a college professor,” Janak
said. So he decided to move back to Lincoln in the fall of 2015 to work on his doctorate degree in jazz studies/composition at UNL. Janak is now a graduate teaching assistant at UNL, responsible for both hands-on teaching of undergraduate music groups and helping coordinate different events put on by the Glenn Korff School of Music. He said college teaching is something he really enjoys, and the importance of a good music teacher is incredible. “I have a long list of inspiring teachers who went above and beyond what they had to do to help me,” Janak said. “The least I can do is pay it forward.” Among these teachers is Paul Haar, an associate professor of saxophone and the director of jazz studies at UNL, who began teaching Janak when he was a freshman in 2008. As one of his teachers, Haar has seen him grow and mature into the musician he is today. “His knowledge base has grown, as has his maturity as a writer and soloist,” Haar said. “He is a world-class performer with tremendous harmonic knowledge and complexity of sound.” Haar said there are many qualities Janak possesses that will make him a professor who will be able to help and inspire his students, including his personality and skill. “He can do the work at a very high level,” Haar said. “He has the ability to relate information well to students [because] he is easy and friendly.” Janak said he wants his teaching and playing to go hand-in-hand, which he said is expected of professors. He said he enjoys sharing his music with people because it is through performing his original compositions that he is at his most vulnerable. “That sense of vulnerability and connection with an audience is what drew me to jazz specifically,” Janak said. “It’s my favorite part of it.” He said one of his goals in returning to Lincoln is to make great jazz music, and to get it more exposed to the general public. “I want to keep being an active performer and writer,” Janak said. Janak said performing in Chicago versus performing in Lincoln isn’t all that different, but he said Chicago’s public might be generally more interested in jazz music. He said he hopes to change this because a lot of great music is being made in the Lincoln jazz community. “The best players [in Lincoln] are as good as anywhere,” Janak said.
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Courtesy photo LaFrae Sci teaches workshops on music. Sci said she uses jazz to empower women and teach entrepreneurship, as well as other socioeconomic skills.
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Courtesy photo by Kate Milford
Groove Diplomacy connects local, international communities through music Ally Sargus staff writer
As a cultural ambassador for the U.S. State Department, LaFrae Sci has travelled to 35 countries, as a composer, drummer and most importantly, an educator. Through her experience in the program, Sci gained a desire of using music to strengthen global connections. Sci said the State Department sent jazz musicians to places around the world to unite the States with other nations. She said the goal was “to try to build bridges and mutual understandings through this music that so many people love.” Her involvement in the international program led her to launch Groove Diplomacy, a non-profit, non-governmental organization that creates music-based programming for
all ages. The organization focuses primarily on the use of music to build communication and empowerment among people, rather than amusing the audience. “I think our society mostly values music for its entertainment,” Sci said. “But as an African American, the tradition of music has been so much about building community, healing and telling personal expression.” Groove Diplomacy is an organization in which music and life go hand in hand to promote diversity and create unity within local and international communities by gaining mutual understandings. Recently, Groove Diplomacy collaborated with the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala to create programming that bridges Black History Month and Women’s History Month in early spring. With the indigenous culture in Guatemala, Sci said she considered various groups to be involved with the international work-
shops and masterclasses, including her allfemale band, Sonic Black. “I decided to take an all-female band [internationally] because it’s very empowering for women to see other women doing things that they’ve never seen women do when you go to other cultures,” she said. Although each masterclass is different, the basic elements of each class includes interaction of people, active participation and creating in a group setting. According to Lakecia Benjamin, saxophonist for Sonic Black, each class gives participants a historical standpoint on jazz music and provides context. “The music is directly tied to the social and political climate of that time period,” Benjamin said. “The master class gives the students not only a chance to learn about playing jazz, blues and the theory behind it, but also a chance to understand that music
was a reflection of the culture.” When it comes to teaching workshops, Sci uses her experience with music as an entrepreneur to emphasize the importance of developing ideas and concepts. She also incorporates spirituality, like meditation or elements of mindfulness. “I really believe that music can change people and that vibrations are very much a part of music as well,” Sci said. “Our bodies are 60 to 90 percent water, and water really takes on vibrations where you can have a positive or negative effect depending on what types of vibrations you choose.” Benjamin first heard of Groove Diplomacy from some work Sci had done in Russia on a state department tour. The work in Russia expanded over a 10-month time period where Sci commuted found herself commuting back and forth between Siberia and New York about every two to three months.
TUESDAY, JUNE 6, 2017 • 9
THE DAILY NEBRASKAN JAZZ IN JUNE By bringing together jazz orchestras, jazz musicians and rock musicians from all different backgrounds, they were able to empower the community and create an 80-piece orchestra in Siberia, a place which once lacked
jazz music. “Music is important because thing that connects everyone,” said. “It’s the one force that heals as a musician, I feel it’s our jobs to
it’s someBenjamin us all, and be healers
through this platform.” Benjamin said she’s learned a lot from her experiences with Groove Diplomacy, and she hopes others are able to learn from it, too. “If we can come together in peace and
have open, unjudged dialogue, we would all start to see we have more similarities than differences,” she said. news@dailynebraskan.com
courtesy photo
LaFrae Sci’s music educates, resonates with diverse groups of people Alex Paun staff writer
LaFrae Sci is dead set on a mission with no signs of slowing down: using music to educate
and inspire people across the world. Sci’s endeavors include conducting an orchestra in Russia, serving as a cultural ambassador for the United States State Department, starting the Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls and founding Groove Diplomacy, a nonprofit, non-government
organization. Best described as a collective of musical educators spearheaded by Sci, Groove Diplomacy consists of several bands including her bands Sonic Black and 13th Amendment?, which create teaching units about various social issues to en-
gage with different audiences. Sci said music’s all-encompassing nature stirs her passion for using jazz as a way to educate others on a variety of socioeconomic issues like entre-
SEE LAFRAE: PAGE 11
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Zoo Bar welcomes Jazz in June artists to perform with The Jazzocracy J O I N T H E JA Z Z I N J U N E R H Y T H M C L U B and help bring the greatest Jazz musicians in the world to Nebraska! Your membership allows all Nebraskans to experience distinctive jazz performances in the great outdoors of the Sheldon Sculpture Garden on the beautiful University of Nebraska campus. As a community arts organization, we rely on private support for as much as 90 % of our annual revenue. Member dollars allow Jazz in June to keep the creative spirit of the music alive through a wide range of performances and programs that promote education, encourage intercultural exchange and support the local economy. Through your Tax-Deductible membership, you will: • Provide once-in-a-lifetime moments for thousands of Nebraskans • Connect with fellow Jazz lovers and receive invitations to exclusive social events • Receive free merchandise and music For more info stop by the Jazz in June booth on the west steps of the Sheldon or visit jazzinjune.com.
Julian Tirtadjaja | dn Will Roper STAFF WRITER
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Jazz in June has arrived, and one of Lincoln’s premier venues for live music will help celebrate the weekly jazz jamboree. Nearly every Tuesday during the month of June, Zoo Bar, located on 14th Street in the heart of downtown Lincoln, will host its house jazz band The Jazzocracy alongside Jazz in June musicians on June 6, 13 and 27. The shows will take place after the main festival outside the Sheldon Art Museum has ended around 9 p.m., allowing Lincoln jazz enthusiasts to continue the festivities. Live blues and jazz music have been the lifeblood of the venue, with local, national and international musicians like Luther Allison, Magic Slim and Buddy Guy jamming in its halls for almost half a century. It seems only right, then, that the house jazz band commemorate Jazz in June. The Jazzocracy, a staple in Lincoln’s jazz scene, was formed roughly 10 years ago, allowing relatively quiet Tuesday nights at Zoo to be filled with cool, genuine jazz music. Mitchell Benson, bass player for the band and University of Nebraska-Lincoln graduate, said The Jazzocracy has given him an outlet to continue performing. “It was so good to have a reason to continue playing jazz outside of school,” Benson said. Benson said The Jazzocracy plays classic and modern jazz tunes, allowing members to groove on a melody or branch out and showcase their improvisation skills.
“Somebody will call a tune from the stage, and we’ll play the big melody,” Benson said. “But then, most of the time everybody will go through a solo. Some guys will say something real quick and get out of it, and other dudes will take their time.” The band, while comprised of more permanent members, also invites other jazz players to sit in and play alongside them. “Maybe they’ve been working on a tune, and they have these ideas and want to try it; or they just want to blues,” Benson said. “It’s a fun way to reach out to other people.” Benson said The Jazzocracy usually takes a break during the month of June because Tuesday evenings are already filled with jazz music outside the Sheldon Museum of Art on campus. This year, the group is attempting a new game plan to get involved with the city-wide jazz festivities, one based on the idea of having Jazz in June performers sit in with the band at Zoo Bar after the main shows. Benson said local DJ Faruq Foster and Jazz in June coordinator Spencer Munson were the people who concocted the idea of having Jazz in June performers continue into the night at the Zoo Bar. Benson said he and the band were immediately on board with the suggestion. “[Munson] and Faruq talked a little bit and thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if The Jazzocracy would play on Tuesdays,’ and we could advertise to the Jazz in June crowd,” Benson said. And, he said, there will be plenty of performers who would love to continue playing the night at the prestigious Zoo Bar. From its small beginnings as a rough dive bar in 1973, Zoo Bar has built a reputation as the place
TUESDAY, JUNE 6, 2017 • 11
THE DAILY NEBRASKAN JAZZ IN JUNE to be for pure blues and jazz music in Nebraska. Originally called Bourbon Lounge, founding co-owner Jim Ludwig decided to rename the bar after a favorite song of his, according to Jim Cunningham, a bartender and manager for Zoo Bar from 1974 until 1979. “He really liked the song, ‘At the Zoo,’ and so he named his bar the Zoo Bar,” Cunningham said. “And the last song in the lower right corner of the jukebox was Simon and Garfunkel’s, ‘At the Zoo.’” According to Cunningham, contrary to Simon and Garfunkel’s lyric, “It’s all happening at the zoo,” Zoo Bar wasn’t making any money for Ludwig in the early months of 1973 until he was introduced to an art student named Larry Boehmer. “Larry went to Jim after he went to work for him and said, ‘Give me a row on the jukebox for my records, and I will bring business in,’” Cunningham said. “They were all blues records.” Bill Swearingen, an early patron of Zoo Bar, said Boehmer understood how to bring people into Ludwig’s upstart bar.
“Boehmer realized that the blues as an art form in the ‘70s was dying,” Swearingen said. “Boehmer’s attitude was that, for this art form to continue to exist, there has to be venues that want blues performers.” After Boehmer established a sturdy collection of blues tracks in the jukebox, it was only a matter of time before live blues and jazz performers found themselves within the narrow corridor of Zoo Bar. Like the past four decades, it’ll be happening “At the Zoo” on Tuesdays this June. Benson said he’s looking forward to performing jazz with prestigious Jazz in June players in front of nighttime Lincoln crowds. “The scene is good, people are coming and playing every week and we want them to be a part of it,” Benson said. “They can have a great experience, and realize that when they go back to wherever they play normally, they have it in their mind to come back to Lincoln and the Zoo Bar.”
LAFRAE: FROM PAGE 9 preneurship and women’s empowerment. “To be honest, I feel like it’s a duty to be a service to my community and the world,” Sci said. Sci was born in Okinawa, Japan. Her father, a New York native, served in the Air Force and her mother, a dance choreographer, was from southern Georgia. Her father’s service required her family to move constantly, something she credits for her appreciation of different cultures. Although she grew up with a musical background, Sci did not pursue music until college. Sci was originally a political theory and economics double major at Oberlin College in Ohio, but she found herself uninterested with school. She eventually took a break from school and moved back to Dayton, Ohio, her hometown, where she found a job at Cityfolk, a now-defunct local arts programming organization. While working with Cityfolk’s jazz series, she met some well-known jazz artists, including Benny Harris, which ignited her love for the genre. “I went back to school with a new inspiration,” Sci said, who then finished her degree while also taking music composition classes through Oberlin College’s Conservatory of Music. In 2014, Sci started Groove Diplomacy after being pushed by a mentor. “He was aware of my level of work in terms of using music to communicate,” Sci said. While she knew the direction she wanted to take her project, Sci said she had to figure out the business side of the music industry on her own. “I had to ask around about the legal, financial and structural side,” Sci said. “But I knew what I wanted to do and had no doubts.” Spencer Munson, the Jazz in June coordinator, handpicked Sci and Sonic Black to perform at the festival after being “enthralled” by their performance at Winter Jazzfest in New York City in January. “LaFrae just had a way with words and was getting up between each song and explaining its relevance,” Munson said. “And you rarely see a bandleader who is a drummer, much less a woman.”
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Courtesy photo Munson said he hopes Sci’s message for empowerment will resonate with a diverse group of people at Jazz in June, especially Lincoln’s underserved populations. “A lot of people feel that appreciators of jazz are inaccessible compared to other groups,” Munson said. “LaFrae breaks down the struggle of African Americans and women in the music industry to show how it’s not a high or low class art form, it’s for everybody.” In terms of where she can take her projects, Sci said she is confident things will only get bigger. “So far I don’t feel like there is a limit to what I can accomplish,” she said. “It feels like it’s building and building.”
12 TUESDAY, JUNE 6, 2017
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Fly Dogz offers customers unique hot dogs and extraordinary service Margaret Davenport staff writer
Hot dogs are a point of contention in my family. Most of my family members are from the Chicago area, where it is borderline illegal to put ketchup on your dog. But I love ketchup on hot dogs (I love everything on hot dogs), and I believe if you think ketchup belongs on a hot dog, you should do just that. Sorry, Dad. Aside from the occasional Husker game, there are no restaurants in Lincoln which specialize in serving a good hot dog. Thankfully, Fly Dogz opened in March with that in mind. Located at 3111 O St., Fly Dogz specializes in hot dogs with toppings of all kinds. Dogs are categorized into “coach,” “business class” and “first class,” with the price and quality increasing from one category to the next. Coach dogs are $2.99, business $3.99, first class $4.99, and each type of dog comes with unlimited toppings, meaning you could pay $2.99 for a coach dog and just get ketchup and mustard. Alternatively, you could add chili, cheese, sauerkraut, corn chips, barbecue sauce and more. The list of toppings is extensive. The restaurant also has a selection of specialty hot dogs you can get with any type of dog (with the exception of the Fly dog) in case you can’t decide what toppings you want. Every hot dog is cooked to order, and vegetarian and gluten-free options are available, too. You can also upgrade your hot dog to a meal with chips and a drink. I chose the Chicago dog, with a hot link (business class) and a Fly dog, which automatically comes as a jumbo dog (first class). The Chicago dog has mustard, relish, on-
ion, pickle, pepperoncinis, tomato and celery salt. The Fly dog has lettuce, tomato, onions, jalapeños, cream cheese and nacho cheese served on a hamburger bun. Both dogs were loaded with their respective toppings and cooked to order, meaning the wait for the dog was longer than a minute, but it was worth it. Both dogs had the iconic snap of the casing when bitten into, producing a cascade of savoriness that complimented the sweet and spicy toppings perfectly, especially the Chicago dog. While the dogs are fantastic, the best part about Fly Dogz is the service. I’ve visited countless restaurants and had amazing service at numerous places, but the man behind the counter at Fly Dogz blew me away. The kindness that radiated from him left me in a good mood the rest of the afternoon, and he insisted on throwing away my dirty napkin and plate when I was finished, even though I could have walked to the trash can and thrown it away myself. I could tell how passionate he was about the business, and it made me love my experience more. The inside of the restaurant is charming, with murals of humanoid hot dogs going on adventures and a chalkboard wall sitting opposite the counter, which guests can doodle on as they wait for their meal. It’s casual, fast and very cute. The hot dogs and atmosphere at Fly Dogz are both very good, but it was the service that made my experience truly great. Another unique aspect to Fly Dogz are its unique hours. Its regular hours are 11 a.m. until 2 p.m.,Monday through Saturday. It is also open again from 5 p.m. until 11 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. On Wednesday it is open until 10 p.m., 2 a.m. on
“[The hot] dogs had the iconic snap of the casing when bitten into, producing a cascade of savoriness that complimented the sweet and spicy toppings perfectly...”
Margaret Davenport | dn Fly Dogz is a new hot dog restaurant in Lincoln, located at 3111 O St. Suite D. Friday and 2:30 a.m. on Saturday. The restaurant delivers and caters across Lincoln, and if its catering is anything like the restaurant, I’m certain it will be wonderful.
This place will make you fall in love with hot dogs all over again. Daily Nebraskan score: 4.75/5 stars
14 TUESDAY, JUNE 6, 2017
THE DAILY NEBRASKAN JAZZ IN JUNE
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Despite UNL budget cuts, Jazz in June is here to stay Mia Everding staff writer
The annual Jazz in June event has been a Lincoln community staple for more than 25 years. As the coordinators prepare for the coming season of weekly concerts, they will also look at the question of sponsorship and funding. Jazz in June coordinator Spencer Munson said his experience with the event dates
back to his time as a Nebraska Wesleyan University student during the early 2000s. “I have vivid memories of going to Jazz in June with my friends while I was a student,” he said. But according to Munson, like anything, the future for Jazz in June is unclear. Because of the uncertainty regarding budget cuts to the University of Nebraska, Munson said Jazz in June may lose sponsorship money from UNL. However, because of the diverse array of contributors supporting
Jazz in June, Munson said the event will not be in jeopardy. “If one source of funding disappears, we fall back on another,” Munson said. Bill Stephan, the Jazz in June advisory board chair, said the event has a bright future. “[Jazz in June] is one of the most consistent art traditions in Lincoln,” Stephan said. He also said when people ask about events in Lincoln, Jazz in June is mentioned as something the community and UNL takes
pride in. While events like Jazz in June occur in cities all over the U.S., Munson said Lincoln’s event shows a unique partnership between the city and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. “[Jazz in June] brings culture to Lincoln,” Munson said. But funding the event is a key part of the work done as a coordinator, Munson said. While there is support from the city of Lincoln and UNL, Munson said there is also
TUESDAY, JUNE 6, 2017 • 15
THE DAILY NEBRASKAN JAZZ IN JUNE generous support from corporate sponsors. Some of those sponsors are the Lincoln Community Foundation, the Lee and Debbie Stuart Family Foundation, Embassy Suites and Union Bank and Trust. Sponsors are acknowledged by having their names printed in the event programs and having their names announced on stage at the event. Additionally, those working for Jazz in June can apply for grants to keep the event thriving. In addition to the funding, Munson said a bucket is passed around at each concert for donations. There is also a membership program, Rhythm Club, which provides members with exclusive events and meet-and-greets with
the artists. Munson said this is an opportunity for individuals to contribute and be recognized as integral parts of Jazz in June. Beyond the sponsorships and uncertainty of the future, Stephan said the combination of world-class jazz and the place where the concerts take place, including a sculpture garden, makes a great tradition. “There’s a lot of pride and ownership in the program,” he said. With new ways of investing in the event and growing programs out of the event, Stephan said there are always ways to enhance the experience. “People travel to Lincoln to see Jazz in June,” he said. “It will continue to be one of the gems of Lincoln.”
“There’s a lot of pride and ownership in [Jazz in June].”
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