Musical Greats to Jam Educators Conference

Wynton Marsalis will lecture on the importance of Duke Ellington. Charlie Haden will discuss the relationship of improvisation and spirituality. Milt Jackson, Herbie Hancock, Terrence Blanchard and some 100 other musicians are scheduled to perform. Dave Brubeck, Joe Henderson and Art Farmer will receive honors from the National Endowment for the Arts.

And that’s just for starters when the International Assn. of Jazz Educators’ 26th annual conference settles in to the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim during the first week of January. In what the IAJE bills as the “single largest gathering of the international jazz community,” some 6,000 attendees from 35 countries are expected to crowd the site for four days of panels, performances, lectures and clinics. The theme? You guessed it: “Jazz in the New Millennium.”

“Our mission,” says IAJE executive director Bill McFarlin from the organization’s offices in Manhattan, Kan., “is to ensure the growth of jazz through education and outreach.”

To facilitate its goals, the IAJE sponsors a host of young talent recognition awards, teacher training institutes and artist outreach programs and awards more than $50,000 in scholarships each year. The annual conference, held last year in New York and scheduled for New Orleans in the year 2000, is the organization’s central focus.

Among the dozens of clinics and seminars scheduled daily are several dealing with composing jazz for film and TV; an Ellington panel discussion with Kenny Burrell, James Newton, John Clayton, Louis Bellson and others; and a session on how to effectively teach young students.

Student bands from across the country as well as Canada, Australia, Sweden and Kazakhstan will perform. Brubeck, Henderson and Farmer will receive the National Endowment for the Arts’ American Jazz Masters award from Billy Taylor at a gala concert held on the final night.

Only the Jan. 8 evening concert--held in the Disneyland Hotel’s grand ballroom and featuring the Bob Florence Limited Edition big band, vocalist Marlena Shaw and the Superband with Peter Erskine, John Patitucci, John Abercrombie and Bob Mintzer--is open to the public. Half of the $25 ticket price will benefit jazz radio KLON-FM (88.1), which serves as the conference’s official radio station.

Evening performances at Steamers Cafe in Fullerton, the conference’s official jazz club, are also open to the public, and include appearances from Alan Broadbent and Gary Foster on Jan. 6, the Anthony Wilson Nonet on Jan. 7, guitarist Russell Malone on Jan. 8 and the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra on Jan. 9. (Steamers information: [714] 871-8800.)

Those wanting to attend any or all of the other conference activities will have to pay for a year’s IAJE membership and conference registration, a total of $230. Information: (785) 776-8744 or the IAJE’s Web site at https://www.iaje.org.

Potato II: The Baked Potato, that hallowed proving ground for jazz fusion and electric music on Cahuenga Boulevard West in North Hollywood, expands to the other side of the hill Jan. 2 when the Baked Potato Hollywood opens near the corner of Sunset and Vine.

Promising the same booking policy as the original location, owner Justin Randi, who for a decade managed the North Hollywood Potato for his father, keyboardist Don Randi, says the Sunset location is larger and more upscale than the decidedly funky, sardine-sized North Hollywood location. “It’s like the old Potato, only beautiful,” he says with a laugh.

Guitarist Steve Lukather’s jazz-rock band Los Lobotomys will perform on opening night. Upcoming acts in January include the Latin jazz-funk band of Armand Sabal-Leco and Walfredo Reyes, Santana vocalist Alex Ligertwood with onetime Weather Report bassist Alphonso Johnson and keyboardist T. Lavitz, trumpeter Mark Isham’s ensemble and former Police guitarist Andy Summers’ jazz-minded trio.

And yes, the Hollywood location will feature a selection of the original’s namesake, oversized spuds. The Baked Potato’s first satellite location in Old Pasadena closed its doors in 1997. Information: (323) 461-6400.

Look Ahead: New releases scheduled for next month: drummer Joe Chambers’ “Mirrors,” from Blue Note, Jan. 12; vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson’s “Skyline,” vocalist Abbey Lincoln’s “Wholly Earth” and trombonist J.J. Johnson’s “Heroes,” all due Jan. 26 from Verve; Irakere with Chucho Valdez, “Yemeya,” and trumpeter Tim Hagans’ electric “Animation Imagination,” both from Blue Note, Jan. 26.

Free Jazz: Johnny Blas plays contemporary Latin jazz at Borders Books & Music, 2110 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach; Saturday, 8 p.m. (562) 799-0486.