Jazz Camp Alumni Take Top Prize In Monterey

UC San Diego Jazz Camp alumni Chase Morrin, Fernando Gomez and Tyler Eaton, three members of the Chase Morrin Group, have taken first place in the Open Combo Division at the Monterey Jazz Festival’s Next Generation Festival. In addition to taking the top combo spot, Chase also took the top prize for composition, and his piece, “Mumphis” will be performed at the 54th Annual Monterey Jazz Festival by the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra, on the Jimmy Lyons Stage on Sunday, September 18. The Chase Morrin Group will also be featured at the festival, where Chase will also receive the 4th Annual Gerald Wilson Award. The Monterey Jazz Festival invites top student musicians from around the world to participate in the Next Generation Festival to compete for a few coveted performance spots in September’s internationally known event.

Dan Atkinson, director of the UCSD Jazz Camp and the La Jolla Athenaeum Music & Arts Library’s jazz program coordinator, is delighted to hear about the group’s accomplishment. “It is really an extraordinary achievement that Chase, Tyler and Fernando have won first place in this national competition. Each is a stellar young musician. Chase’s multiple talents as a pianist, composer, arranger and bandleader are truly exceptional. This award is just one more step towards establishing him as a national-level player in jazz.”

UC San Diego Jazz Camp is five-day summer program for intermediate to advanced level musicians ages 14 to adult. An extraordinary faculty of leading jazz improvisers and educators teach each year, including leading bebop saxophonist Charles McPherson, Angels in America composer Anthony Davis and Grammy-nominated bassist Mark Dresser (both faculty of the UCSD Department of Music).

Success in job interviews means willingness to learn

Dr. Mary Walshok

“Over the past 12 years, significant research has been conducted on employer preferences, also known as the Voice of the Employer studies,” says Mary Walshok, a sociologist who has done research for the U.S. Department of Labor and the dean of continuing education at UC San Diego.

According to her new book, Closing America’s Job Gap, employers want proof that a prospect has the necessary knowledge, training, and experience to perform the job or, at least, to learn how to perform it. Preferably, the prospect has both. What is important is not only the training and experience, but the demonstrated ability to learn! The employer would examine the resume, attitude and approach of the prospects.

“Of greater importance to the employer was certification of the ability to do the job, or certification of the knowledge and skills that would allow the prospect to learn how to do the job,” says Walshok. “A track record of success in similar jobs was preferred, but the key was to be able to point to evidence, proof, of abilities to perform and learn. The employers perceived that the nimbleness of their organization and the rapidly changing marketplace required them to have employees who could adapt and change with the marketplace. Direct experience, while relevant, was not as important as the demonstrated ability to adapt and perform in new circumstances.”