Fund-Raiser Draws Out Exuberance of Stars

When trombonist Thurman Green passed away in 1997 at age 56, the jazz world lost a talented but underappreciated artist. Much admired by his fellow musicians, he was a stylistically diverse performer, moving easily from big-band work with the Clayton-Hamilton Orchestra to the iconoclastic music of Horace Tapscott.

Green’s accomplishments have been memorialized in the Thurman Green Scholarship Program, which (in association with the Los Angeles Jazz Society) awards scholarships to deserving trombone students at both the college and the secondary school level. One of the ways in which the program is supported is via an annual fund-raising event that draws all-star arrays of performers.

On Sunday afternoon at the Musicians Union in Hollywood, the fourth annual Thurman Green Scholarship concert drew a packed house to hear a lengthy lineup that included trombone ensemble BoneSoir, the Bobby Rodriguez Latin Jazz group, the Hamiet Bluiett Ensemble, the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, Barbara Morrison & Friends, the Buddy Childers Big Band and Billy Higgins. All that (plus a hearty buffet) for a $20 donation to the scholarship program--about as impressive a musical bargain as one could imagine.

And it was appropriate that the event had a celebratory quality, underscored by the presence onstage of so many players who had worked closely with Green. BoneSoir, for example, performed pieces that he both wrote and arranged. Hamiet Bluiett, making a rare appearance, displayed his remarkable range and versatility on the baritone saxophone. Perhaps best of all, the Clayton-Hamilton Orchestra--working for once in a venue where the ensemble could control its own dynamic level, beyond the manipulations of audio technicians--sounded marvelous, their crisp, enthusiastic performance a joyous tribute to a former musical companion.

Donations to the Thurman Green Scholarship Fund, which currently provides support to students at UCLA and the Manhattan School of Music, as well as secondary and elementary school students, can be sent to Zeni Music, P.O. Box 927, Culver City, CA 90232.