UGA JAZZ PROFESSOR MARKS A YEAR, FUELS PROGRAM’S FUTURE

   The students, dressed in matching black, shuffle onto the wooden stage, their footsteps echoing on the waxed floor. The harsh lights beam down on them, glinting off the brass of a saxophone, the silver of a trumpet. The director takes the floor in his sleek black suit, and silence falls in the darkened concert hall.

   Snap … snap … 1, snap, 2, snap, uh 1, 2, 3 — the bright ring of brass tears through the silence, joined by the steady heartbeat of the drums and bass. The director sweeps his hands above his head, and the band rises with him, filling the air with a vibrant melody.

   The director, James Weidman, assistant professor of jazz piano and African-American studies, will finish his first year at the University of Georgia in May. He is part of the growing jazz program that reflects the changing values and direction of the Hugh Hodgson School of Music.

   “There’s a perception that the music program was a little behind the eight ball compared to the other universities in terms of being open to other forms of music,” Weidman said. 

   Some conservative lines of thinking define the old European tradition as the only “serious music” worthy of higher education, “but music is the open sky,” Weidman said.

   Weidman came to UGA in the fall of 2021 with Greg Satterthwaite, another piano professor. For nine years before they were hired, Dave D’Angelo alone ran the Jazz minor program, which has 23 different courses, according to the UGA Bulletin. 

   This abrupt shift hints at a change in the priorities and leadership of the School of Music. In 2019, Peter Jutras became director, replacing Dale Monson, who served for a decade prior. 

   While Monson praised the “centuries-old traditions” of music education, Jutras intends to introduce classes on pop, contemporary gospel and theater, as well as a jazz major, Weidman said. According to the jazz program heads, these changes will recruit more interested students.

   Michael Solomon, a freshman in the Hugh Hodgson School of Music, cited the two new piano professors for his decision to come to UGA. “They’re piano professors, and I'm a piano major. And I'm interested in jazz, so the stars aligned,” he said.

   The shift could help offset the declining numbers of visual and performing arts degrees, which reached new lows since the outbreak of COVID-19. Between 2010 and 2020, those arts degrees, which include music degrees, have decreased by 33.4%. The 2019-2020 school year alone saw a 5.5% decrease compared to the year prior, according to the UGA Fact Book. 

   Weidman came to Athens largely because of the new position created for him and Satterthwaite: professor of jazz piano and African-American studies. Building a new program from scratch was an exciting prospect to Weidman, a self-described “bookworm” eager to impart his knowledge.

   Michael Siler, a junior biochemistry major who has taken lessons and classes with Weidman, attested to his teaching.

   “He's so charismatic. He has a lot of old wisdom and very funny anecdotes,” Siler said. “And he has this grace when it comes to speaking and this humility that motivates me to get better.”

   Weidman has a degree in classical piano and music education from Youngstown State University, but he said he first learned jazz from his saxophonist father. He recalled how his father salvaged a hearse from the local junkyard to haul his organ around town for gigs.
   After six decades of practice, Weidman plays the piano and organ masterfully. He will perform in Athens on June 12 at the Ebenezer Baptist Church's Juneteenth Commemoration, and he will perform at the Birdland Club in New York City on May 19 and 22. His first commitment, though, is to his students. 

   The student big band performance that night ended with raucous applause. But even as those students marched offstage, the curtains were just opening for the UGA jazz program.