Jazz all-stars to honor legacy of Music Inn
by Seth Rogovoy

(LENOX, Mass., July 27, 1998) -- A congress of jazz royalty, including Dave Brubeck, Sonny Rollins, Randy Weston, Cecil Payne, Candido and members of the Modern Jazz Quartet, will convene over dinner on Saturday, Aug. 22, at the National Music Center to pay tribute to Stephanie Barber and the Music Inn she founded here 48 years ago with her late husband, Philip.

The event, which will precede a concert by Rollins already scheduled for that night at the music center's theater, is the kickoff of a campaign to raise funds to establish a permanent archive and exhibition about Music Inn, the unique venue founded by the Barbers and run as a kind of jazz retreat, salon and school in the 1950s.

By gathering so many of the key players from that era together, the center hopes to draw attention to the Music Inn's legacy while staging an event which itself will be of lasting historical significance. In addition to the aforementioned, those expected to attend include Jimmy Giuffre and the Modern Jazz Quartet's John Lewis, Milt Jackson and Percy Heath, as well as dancers including Geoffrey Holder and Leon James, writers such as Ira Gitler and academicians like Jay Foster, who was dean of the School of Jazz at Music Inn.

During the course of the evening, the guests of honor will be offering testimonials and personal reminiscences about Music Inn, one of the first attempts of its kind to take jazz out of the smoky bars of the city and present it in a manner befitting the music's dignity -- a sort of Tanglewood for jazz. The gala dinner, which will run from 5 to 7:30 and which will be catered by Seven Hills Resort, will also include the screening of rare photographs and home movies. And with so many great players on hand, the potential for an all-star jam session is the stuff of a jazz fan's dream.

The event will be open to the public, with tickets starting at $75 per person. Those interested in attending should call the National Music Foundation at 637-1800 and ask for an invitation.

Over the course of a decade, the Music Inn and its concert arm, the Berkshire Music Barn, hosted the likes of Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Mahalia Jackson, Thelonious Monk, Coleman Hawkins and Miles Davis, as well as all of the musicians named above.

Many of these players participated in the original Jazz Roundtables. Organized by jazz historian Marshall Stearns, these were some of the first attempts to study jazz in a serious fashion. They drew the attention of fans and critics from around the world.

In addition, some musicians were in residence for extended periods of time at the property which, as its name implied, was an inn. Among these were Brubeck, who brought his entire family with him one summer, and the members of the Modern Jazz Quartet, who served as the "house band" for several summers. The MJQ also recorded a couple of albums at Music Inn, including one with Sonny Rollins.

By 1957, the success of the concert series and the roundtables led to the creation of the Lenox School of Jazz, one of the first of its kind, at which pros like Lewis, Gillespie, Lennie Tristano and Max Roach trained a new generation of players, including Ornette Coleman and Arif Mardin.

"This is consistent with our mission to celebrate and preserve American music," said Stan Rosen, the music center's director of development, who is organizing the program. "It seemed logical to start with this important aspect of local musical history. Something extraordinary happened here."

Rosen said the idea for a Music Inn archival exhibit germinated from several conversations he has had with some of the jazz greats who emphasized the importance of preserving the memories of the Music Inn and putting them into some kind of historical perspective.

"I think I got personally focused on this when I had lunch with John Lewis and he could not stop talking about the importance of this place to him and his generation of jazz musicians," said Rosen.

The exhibition itself, which is still in the early planning stages, will draw upon film, photographic and sound archives, as well as oral histories from those who took part in Music Inn programs.

"We'll create an exhibit which at times will be on display at our property and at times on loan to other institutions to help spread the legacy," said Rosen.

Rosen said that several of those invited who will not be able to make it to the dinner on Aug. 22 will be sending written testimonials to be read to those in attendance. He said in particular that Marian McPartland -- the pianist who hosts the popular public radio program, "Piano Jazz" -- was "heartsick' that she wouldn't be able to attend due to a previously-scheduled engagement.

But given the impressive list of those expected to show, said Rosen, "I think accidentally we are going to recreate the magic of Music Inn just with these musicians in the house."

[This article originally appeared in the Berkshire Eagle on July 28, 1998. Copyright Seth Rogovoy 1998. All rights reserved.]