In jazz, the bass provides an ensemble’s foundation, and Jeff Denson, a master of the low-end instrument, came to play a bass-like role in Berkeley’s California Jazz Conservatory.
In the midst of an accelerating international career fueled by his work with alto sax legend Lee Konitz, Denson moved to the East Bay in 2011 when Susan Muscarella recruited him as the first full-time faculty member for her dream project, the nation’s only independent, accredited institution devoted solely to the quintessential American art form.
But in July the CJC announced that it was closing the degree-granting conservatory due to unsustainably low enrollment, a long-simmering situation fueled by Bay Area housing costs and exacerbated by the pandemic’s ongoing aftermath. The CJC’s popular Jazzschool Community Music Program, which serves hundreds of aspiring musicians of all levels and ages, isn’t going anywhere, “and I hope it continues to thrive,” Denson said, while noting he’s overseeing his last semester as the conservatory’s dean of curriculum.
His uncertain future in the Bay Area adds a poignant note to his upcoming trio gigs with French guitarist Romain Pilon. They’ve performed widely around the world and recorded two albums with Brian Blade over the last seven years, but the drum maestro’s unforgiving schedule often requires them to hire other drummers (Blade performs around the region in the coming weeks with a quartet paying tribute to their late bandleader Wayne Shorter).
For the trio’s Bay Area gigs at the California Jazz Conservatory Oct. 19 and the SJZ Break Room Oct. 20 Denson and Pilon are joined by Berkeley drum star Scott Amendola, “who’s super creative and very colorful, with a lot of energy,” Denson said.
Focusing on original material from 2022’s “Finding Light,” which Denson released on his label Ridgeway Records, Denson and Pilon are also bringing in some new pieces they’re honing for the third album.
“This is Scott’s first time playing with Romain, but Scott and I have played together in a bunch of different settings,” Denson said. “He’s going to be a great fit with Romain.”
Since taking the CJC job Denson has built an intricate lattice of creative relationships in the Bay Area. He launched the collective San Francisco String Trio with guitarist Mimi Fox and violinist Mads Tolling, and released a series of debut albums by young musicians on Ridgeway Records. He’s hoping to stay put, but his commitment to jazz education might take him elsewhere.
“After 13 years or so my wife and I have really planted roots,” he said. “I have friends and colleagues, I know the venue owners and festivals. We love the culture of the Bay. We don’t really want to leave and if I can help it we won’t. But in academia you go where the job is.”
The CJC’s struggle to sustain a degree-granting program is part of a larger contraction, with around one college closing every week this year according to the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association. Locally, Cal State East Bay recently shut down the school’s respected jazz program.
While the CJC’s Bachelor of Music program never surpassed 50 full-time students pre-pandemic, it had dwindled to 15 when the board decided to wind down the conservatory.
“The pandemic really rapidly accelerated a decline in the enrollment,” said Nick Phillips, who spent his brief run since taking over as CJC president from Muscarella last October trying to attract new students.
The numbers may be small, but CJC graduates are making a significant impact “with a lot of our students going on to make great music in the Bay Area, or L.A. and New York,” Denson said, singling out San José reared vibraphonist and drummer Dillon Vado as a particularly successful alumnus.
“Pianist Michael Echaniz is another very advanced creative musician, and Ruthie Dineen, one of our earliest graduates, is a great pianist who’s running the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts as well. Saxophonist Chris Sullivan won a Grammy with Michael Bublé’s group, and he’s also running a music program down in L.A.”
With support from drum student Jennifer Maxwell, who co-founded PowerBar and went on to launch the organic energy bar company Jambar, the CJC has become an East Bay outpost for world-class jazz artists, with Denson often anchoring house rhythm sections with fellow faculty like pianist Edward Simon and drummer Gerald Cleaver. As much as he loves performing, he’s equally committed to nurturing young musicians.
“I had great mentors before I went to college in the D.C. area, people who taught me about life and culture and opened my eyes to the world,” Denson said. “People ask about teaching versus playing, but I’ve always felt they’re one and the same, a circle with each side feeding the other.”
Contact Andrew Gilbert at jazzscribe@aol.com.
JEFF DENSON & ROMAIN PILON TRIO
When & where: 8 p.m. Oct. 19 at California Jazz Conservatory in Berkeley; $35; concerts.cjc.edu; 6 p.m. Oct. 20 at SJZ Break Room in San José; $27; sanjosejazz.org