Putting American Fork on the Map

The jacket to the Crescent Super Band's CD, East Coast Envy, describes American Fork as "the last place on earth one would expect to find good jazz."

Not for long, my friends.

If you enjoyed watching the American Fork Marching Band in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, then you'll be interested to learn about the stir another American Fork high school group has made in Manhattan. Recently named by Down Beat Magazine as the best high school jazz band in the world, the Crescent Super Band has brought national and international recognition to American Fork's Music School.

And you thought The Music School was just a place to get a free guitar with music lessons.

I'm excerpting below John Clayton's write-up at the New Hampshire-based UnionLeader.com. Follow the link at the bottom to read the rest of the article.

Thanks to the unflagging leadership of Super Band director Caleb Chapman and AF Marching Band director John Miller, American Fork is taking its place on the musical map.

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YOU CAN ARGUE with me if you wish, but I will state without equivocation that, throughout history, the most oxymoronic nickname in professional sports has been that of the Utah Jazz.

Until now, that is.

All of a sudden, the notion of linking improvisational, polyrhythmic, free-flowing jazz with a buttoned-down, tragically un-hip state like Utah -- I am not making this up; the official state snack food is Jell-O -- is not as incongruous as it used to be.

For that, we can thank Caleb Chapman.

Caleb is a 34-year-old Pinkerton Academy alumnus. Eight years ago -- even as he was completing his undergraduate studies at Brigham Young University -- he took out a loan for $6,000 and set about pursuing his dream.

That dream is called "The Music School."

Since it opened its doors in 1999, enrollment at The Music School (located in American Fork, Utah) has grown to more than 1,200 students, but 21 students in particular caught my ear.

Those 21 students comprise the musical troupe known as the Crescent Super Band, which was just named the best high school-aged jazz band in the world. That honor came from no less an authority than "Down Beat" magazine, which modestly bills itself as "the monthly 'bible' of jazz, blues, and roots music."

Utah Jazz, indeed.

. . .

The Music School encompasses every aspect of the art form. In addition to offering instruction on virtually every instrument -- including guitar, strings, woodwinds, brass, drums, percussion and voice -- there is a division devoted to classical ensembles, there is the Crescent Jazz Institute (that spawned the aforementioned Crescent Super Band) and then there is the Rock Academy.

"We probably have 20 different rock bands operating out of the school," Caleb explained, "everything from bluegrass, speed metal and Caribbean steel drums, from funk to reggae to punk. We have a recording studio and a performance venue and there are jam sessions every week, and what the kids get a kick out of is who they get to jam with."

Guest instructors are a vital part of life at The Music School.

"We have 70 faculty members of our own," he said, "but this year, we'll have more than 70 visiting artists -- Grammy winners from just about every style -- and they don't just lecture. The kids get to perform and record with them.

. . .

In two years, they maxed out the building with 400 students, so Caleb secured $3 million in venture capital and two years ago, The Music School had a brand new home and 1,200 kids.

And, as with the Crescent Super Band, they're kids of the highest caliber.

"All of these kids are being heavily recruited by the top music schools in the country -- in fact, we're the only community music school that's an affiliate of the Juilliard -- but when you ask how many are planning to major in music, it's only about half of them.

"Almost all of them have 4.0 grade averages. They range from the captain of the football team to student body president -- well-rounded kids -- and while they may not look at music as a viable career, they see it as a vital part of their lives, and will for the rest of their lives.

Follow this link to read the article in its entirety.