The University of North Texas is marking a milestone: 75 years of offering jazz studies.
"Jazz initially was saloon music in the brothels, not the concert hall," UNT One O'Clock Lab Band Director Alan Baylock said. "So in academia, it was definitely frowned upon."
UNT, then called North Texas State University, started the first jazz studies program in the world. Seventy-five years later, it is also the oldest jazz studies program.
"So Denton is referred to as Jazz Mecca," Baylock said. The world-renowned One O'Clock Lab Band is the centerpiece of the Jazz Studies program. "If you make the One O'Clock Lab Band, that means you've practiced a lot!"
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Principal Lecturer of Jazz Vocals Rosana Eckert was the first to get a master's from UNT in Jazz Vocals. Now she teaches it.
"Seventy-five years of anything is incredible," Eckert said. "But to work at a place that really was a founder in jazz education in a university, it's extraordinary!"
UNT is still setting the pace in Jazz Studies.
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"UNT is always innovating, always doing the thing that everyone want to do," Director of Jazz Strings Lab Scott Tixier said. "But they're doing it first."
The school was also the first to offer a doctorate in Jazz Strings.
"It's a huge honor and responsibility, but also almost like living my dream," Tixier said.
"For me, jazz is the essence of freedom," said Tixier, who is originally from the suburbs of Paris, France. "Music can open you to a new life, discovering new cultures."
"Jazz to me; it's the ultimate freedom," Baylock said.
UNT will host a 75th Anniversary Concert Series this week. For more information, click here.
