Professor takes students halfway around world to perfect an American art form
Twenty-one years ago, Dr. Mike Davison started the jazz program at Richmond. Today, students playing in his combo perform gigs at campus events, around the Richmond area—and on Hamilton Island in the Great Barrier Reef.
It all began when Davison was invited to perform with the Central Queensland Conservatorium of Music in MacKay, Australia, to perform and present a paper on Cuban jazz. While he was there, two professors invited him to come back with his jazz students to take part in what Davison calls “a truly amazing educational experience.”
Since then, Davison has taken his jazz combo students to Australia four times. The first week is spent at the Conservatorium of Music in MacKay, where Davison and his students take part in workshops. Then it’s off to Hamilton Island, a resort island close to the Great Barrier Reef. The Richmond combo joins the CQC combo, which goes over to Hamilton every few weeks to provide restaurants and hotels on the island with music.
Chris Hamby ’08 is an Oldham Scholar who has played in the combo since his sophomore year and gone on the Australia trip twice.
“Hamilton Island is one of the most gorgeous places I've ever seen. It's great to play jazz in a gazebo overlooking the ocean,” Hamby says. Not a bad gig, especially in between events, when students from Richmond and the Conservatorium can hang out together; since the two groups often play in different venues, they get the chance to hear each other play. “It's a lot of fun to get to know the Australian students and to get their perspectives personally and musically.”
This Australian experience is significant, Davison believes, because students learn how to perform in the real world.
“Because I perform with the students, it’s a chance to go beyond talking about the music—it’s the best way to teach them the true language of jazz,” says Davison.
But Davison’s favorite part of the trip is watching his students develop as people and better musicians. And it looks like the trip is doing its job.
“To some degree, it took going to Australia for me to realize what a cool thing jazz is,” Hamby says. “Halfway around the world, these students and teachers have devoted their lives to this art form that is distinctly American.”