{"id":18367,"date":"2017-02-01T13:51:42","date_gmt":"2017-02-01T18:51:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/college.unc.edu\/?p=18367"},"modified":"2024-07-02T16:35:34","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T16:35:34","slug":"jazz-ketch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/?p=18367","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating 40 years of jazz at Carolina"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"Jim
Jim Ketch has been sharing his love of jazz with the campus community for 40 years. (photo by Dan Sears)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Listen to a UNC “Well Said” podcast with Jim Ketch.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Jim Ketch is a music professor in UNC\u2019s College of Arts and Sciences and a passionate jazz musician. As a professional trumpeter, his talent has taken him around the globe and has allowed him to perform with Aretha Franklin and in venues like Carnegie Hall. This is the 40th <\/sup>year of Ketch\u2019s leadership of the Carolina Jazz Festival. We talked to him about the origins of his talent, his love of the trumpet and his most memorable performances. The 2017 Jazz Festival<\/a> starts on Feb. 15.<\/em><\/p>\n

Q: Do you remember the first time you played the trumpet? <\/strong><\/p>\n

A: I do!\u00a0As a fourth grade student in Peoria, Illinois, our class was invited to visit the band room of our school where the local music store had created a display of all the instruments that we could choose if we wished to start in fifth grade Cadet Band.\u00a0I was attracted to a cornet, and the store representative allowed me to hold the instrument and try to produce a tone. Much to my delight, the cornet produced a loud brassy note, and I fell in love with that sound. I asked my parents to sign me up for band and to please allow me to play cornet. They were very supportive of this decision, and I started in Cadet Band as a fifth-grader.<\/p>\n

Q: When\/how did you fall in love with jazz?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: I was born in 1952 so I grew up at a time when you could hear lots of instrumental music on the radio or television.\u00a0 Once I got involved in the school band program as a cornetist, I became particularly interested in any trumpeter I might encounter. Well I heard recordings of Louis Armstrong and Al Hirt. I remember my mother using a book of S&H Green Stamps to get me a Duke Ellington recording called \u201cAfro Bossa.\u201d My father took me to an Al Hirt concert where I heard incredible Dixieland jazz as well as a classical rendition of the \u201cCarnival of Venice.\u201d By seventh grade I was playing in a little combo. We even were featured on a local television show called \u201cWhat\u2019s Your Hobby?\u201d<\/p>\n

Q: Do you have a performance that is the most memorable for you? <\/strong><\/p>\n

A: I have been privileged to share the stage with quite a few jazz artists, pop stars and brilliant classical musicians. Among my most memorable performances:<\/p>\n