Baltimore County, MD smARTS, 28 Dec 2018

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From YouTube: Jazz with Greg Thompkins, Saxophonist

Description

Greg Thompkins, Saxophonist.

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(Energetic music).

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With me in the studio is greg thompkins..

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He is a saxophonist,, an educator,, an award-performing artist.

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And also a bandleader. welcome! hi, welcome to you!

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and you've brought your saxophone with you,.

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Thank you so much., I certainly did, yes.. So that's a little tease.

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We're gonna hear some good music a little later..

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You started on the clarinet,, not the saxophone,, so obviously, was it the sense of jazz. That kind of then.

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Drew you to the saxophone? just growing up.

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In the 1970s in anne arundel county,, I heard a lot of great rock and jazz saxophone players.

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On the radio, and that's what I wanted to be.

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And what has it meant to you, now that you're a little older than (laughs) elementary school,? What has jazz..., how has it influenced your life?.

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Well,, really it's been able to connect me with a lot of different people of all sorts of cultures.

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And from all over the world. young people, old people,, I've got students now.

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That are traveling the world as professional musicians,.

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And I'm still teaching very young students and people up into their 80s.

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Yeah,, so why do you think it's important to start with young kids in music?.

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Well, music teaches math,, teaches foreign language,.

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Teaches communication, skills, relationship, skills.

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These are things that they can always use for their whole life.. It's kind of a team sport.

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Music is,, they don't-- it absolutely is.. People don't make that correlation. so,. I am so excited,, not only 'cause your....

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The saxophone is a beautiful instrument, and yours is just gorgeous.. I don't know if the camera can see,, but it's got all beautiful, engravings and things., but you're gonna be performing for us,.

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So tell us a little bit about the song. You're gonna be singing., not singing,. I'm sorry, playing.

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Playing on the sax. yes, singing on the sax! "georgia" by hoagy, carmichael.

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And this is a song that I've been working on for years in different bands, and when I was asked to come and do this interview,.

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I started working on a solo version of it,, so that's what.

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You're gonna get today. now,. Are you gonna, be improvising at all? absolutely. or is it all figured out by the time you get here?.

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No,, I will be improvising on it,, so it's gonna be one of those one-take type of things,.

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Meaning that every performance is gonna be a little bit different., it's not the same. Every time., okay, alright,.

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So everybody's gotta stay tuned because we're gonna get to hear greg, thompkins playing a very distinct,, his own version,.

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Of the great classic, hoagy carmichael's "georgia".,.

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(Saxophone playing).

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("Georgia" by hoagy carmichael, performed by greg thompkins).