South Florida jazz luminary Nicole Yarling is speaking, her voice resonating with notes of maternal pride. She’s giving shout-outs to some of the local kids who’ve gone on to make a musical name for themselves — kids who began honing their improvisational chops at the Gold Coast Jazz Society jam sessions that she’s hosted for the past 14 years in Fort Lauderdale.
“There’s a young man named Anthony Hervey, who I’ve known since he went to Parkway Middle School,” the violinist and vocalist says. “He’s probably one of the biggest success stories. He was one of the most serious musicians, even at 13 or 14. He graduated from Dillard, then Juilliard, got his master’s at Juilliard and was a protege of Wynton Marsalis.”
Hervey has even been called on to substitute for the trumpet legend, who’s described him as “a beautiful trumpet player of the first magnitude.” He was recently named one of the “10 Emerging Artists to Know in 2023” by Grammy.com.
“And there’s Miles Lennox, who went to Dillard too,” Yarling continues. “He’s under the tutelage of Herbie Hancock right now at the Herbie Hancock Institute, which only takes a couple of select students every year.”
“It’s unbelievable,” she says, describing her regard for the trajectories of these onetime students. “It’s never going to make me rich in dollars and cents, but it’s a feeling that you cannot buy. These kids are amazing.”
Yarling will help shepherd another crop of “amazing” jazz hopefuls when the Jazz Society’s First Friday Jazz Jams kicks off its new season on Jan. 3. Affording student musicians the opportunity to jam with a professional jazz combo, the free sessions continue on the first Friday of each month through June at ArtServe. Audience members of all ages are welcome.
“The kids, who probably play in the jazz band at school, bring their parents, who aren’t aren’t necessarily jazz lovers — so you’re kind of educating the parents along with providing an opportunity for the kids,” says Pamela Dearden, who is entering her 22nd year as the society’s executive director.
“I love kids. I work with kids all the time, and so it’s a great opportunity for me,” Yarling says of the sessions, each of which draws from five to 25 students from the tri-county region. “It’s just a thrill to help shape and mentor them while they perform.”
Yarling is well-acquainted with the value of mentorship. Earlier in her career, she was taken under the wing of late, great vocalist Joe Williams, whose final recording was “Joe Williams Present Nicole Yarling.” Also, as a faculty member of University of Miami’s Frost School of Music and director of the Jazz Education Community Coalition in Miami, Yarling brings an educator’s sensibilities to the jam sessions.
“Something that I do that doesn’t happen at a lot of jam sessions is, I’m very honest — sometimes brutally honest,” Yarling says. “If the kids do something that isn’t really proper jam session protocol, I tell them. Because what happens is — and I know because I grew up in New York and I used to go to jam sessions — if you’re doing something that’s really not right or not very good, a lot of the time the older musicians will just not invite you back. But they won’t tell you what you’re doing wrong, so you walk away not knowing.
“I do it because I care. If a horn player’s playing the wrong melody or a piano player’s playing the wrong chords and nobody ever corrects you, then you think you’re OK. To me, it’s very important that the honesty helps the kids grow. I think they know that what we tell them will help them in the long run.”
After Yarling opens the sessions with a couple of songs, she assigns the student players to the evening’s set list. Ranging in age and proficiency from middle school to college level, the students take their turns sitting in with the pro rhythm section: pianist Tal Cohen, bassist Vince Dupont and drummer (and ex-husband) John Yarling.
“If the kid’s a drummer, the professional drummer will get up and stand next to the student and mentor that kid as he’s playing,” says Dearden. “And that’s the same for piano and bass. It’s very improvisational. The whole point is to help them learn how to improvise, how to play with other kids, how to play with a professional rhythm section. It’s very loose and flexible because that’s what it has to be.”
Yarling says sitting in a room and practicing is one thing.
“. . .But if you don’t have anybody to play for or if you’re not playing with other musicians, it’s fruitless. You can be the best on your instrument, but if you play alone, it defeats the purpose.”
The Society
The Gold Coast Jazz Society originated in 1992 as a concert series primarily featuring local musicians playing in the main dining room of the Riverside Hotel on Las Olas Boulevard. Now, 33 years later, the society’s concert season, long ago moved to the Broward Center’s Amaturo Theater, features a varied bill of guest artists: pianist Shelly Berg, dean of Frost School of Music (Wednesday, Jan. 8); vocalist Michael Kaeshammer (Wednesday, Feb. 12); Warren Wolf Quintet (Wednesday, March 12); Tony Desare Trio (Wednesday, April 16); and Luciana Souza Trio (Wednesday, May 14),
The First Friday Jazz Jams began 16 years ago as the society’s response to a request from local musicians for an appropriate venue to jam with younger players. Along with the concert series, the sessions are among a medley of ways that the non-profit organization is confronting the challenge of a changing demographic.
“It’s become a far younger community,” says Dearden, the implication being that the audience for jazz is traditionally an older one. “And there are so many options for entertainment that we didn’t have 33 years ago. As a community grows, it needs to have more art offerings, for sure. So the trick is to find your niche audience.”
Trained as a classical musician, Dearden says that part of what the society does is educate the public “because you can’t hear (jazz) just anywhere.”
She adds that Gold Coast has a jazz scholarship program for students who are majoring in jazz in college, or high school students who want to study jazz at a summer jazz camp.
“We also have an educational outreach program called Jazz Slam, where we go to about 20 elementary schools every year with a jazz quartet,” says the director, whose arts management background includes a tenure with the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra. “We’re trying to give fourth- and fifth-grade students an exposure to jazz.”
For older folks, the society presents jazz lectures for Nova Southeastern University’s Lifelong Learning Institute and at John Knox Village. There’s also the Gold Coast Jazz Society Band, a two-to-eight-piece combo that performs for public events and private receptions.
“We have that older demographic who were the tried-and-true supporters and attendees for decades. Now we’re trying to figure out what appeals to younger audiences, people in the 30-to-60 age range. And a lot of them just aren’t very well-acquainted with jazz.”
“Sadly,” she says. “You know, it is America’s music.”
IF YOU GO
WHAT :
Gold Coast Jazz Society First Friday Jazz Jams
WHERE:
ArtServe, 1350 E. Sunrise Blvd., Fort Lauderdale
WHEN:
7:30-9:30 p.m. Jan. 3, Feb. 7, March 7, April 4, May 2 and June 6
COST:
Free
INFORMATION:
(954) 524-0805,
goldcoastjazz.org
