| Sonny LaRosa and America's Youngest Jazz Band | 9 September, 2007  |
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ITG member Fred Burdick has written to the Guild with interesting news of Sonny LaRosa, veteran big band trumpet player, and his “America's Youngest Jazz Band”. LaRosa, now 80, is in his twenty-eighth year of running the Clearwater, Florida, band, whose members’ ages range from 7-12. They have attracted critical acclaim and are much in demand for concerts and festivals all over the United States – and elsewhere: they are the youngest jazz band ever to be invited to perform at the Montreux Jazz Festival. Sonny LaRosa began playing the trumpet aged 10 in Queens, New York. Aged 15 he won a New York Philharmonic Scholarship to study with William Vacchiano at the Juilliard. By the time he was 18, LaRosa was playing with big bands on tour across the United States. In 1978, LaRosa moved to Florida and began his work on running the youngest swing and jazz band, realizing a lifelong ambition. Jazz journalist Nat Hentoff has written, “he should be a model to many educators throughout the world.” On leaving the band, having reached the upper age limit, baritone sax player Gabrielle Lewis wrote a moving letter of tribute to LaRosa which she has kindly shared with ITG. She writes - among many other comments - "If it weren't for Sonny, I wouldn't be the person I am today. Other musicians marvel at my diverse knowledge of Jazz history and music theory. I wouldn't have been inspired to learn about either of these if it weren't for Sonny ... he is always challenging me, and I love every minute of it." Lewis continues: "... The true genius of Sonny is his ability to take 20 young children into a room and within months have them playing Big Band classics with definable style and groove. I'll never get over the thrill of having a roomful of people on their feet applauding because we made their memories come to life." For Hentoff's review of America's Youngest Jazz Band in the January/February 2007 issue of Jazz Times please visit the second link below. For more information on the band please visit its web site. Links: Update: 23 September 2007 - band member tribute added.
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