Genes of jazz keep the music going

Lauren Vane

Mentoring is a powerful thing, and this Saturday the audience at the

Laguna Beach Live! Generations of Jazz concert will see the benefits

firsthand.

Two father and son duos will join fellow jazz greats to perform a

concert to raise funds for JazzMasters Workshop, a music mentoring

program for children.

Legendary jazz saxophonist Charles McPherson will perform with his

son, Chuck McPherson, on drums, alongside father and son duo Dave and

Larry Koonse on guitars.

The concert, which begins at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Laguna Beach

Artists’ Theatre, 625 Park Ave., will also feature Bruce Forman on

guitar and Luther Hughes on bass.

Proceeds from the concert will go to the JazzMasters Workshop, a

free program that Forman started five years ago when he recognized a

need for music to be a part of children’s lives.

“We believe that mentoring and music are essential elements in

keeping kids in school, off drugs and out of gangs,” Forman said.

Music teaches children important life skills and provides them

with a positive outlet for creative and emotional expression, Forman

said.

“We’re not about making musicians, we’re actually more about

transforming lives,” Forman said.

JazzMasters now has workshops in five cities across the United

States, from New York to San Francisco, including one here in Laguna

Beach.

Luther Hughes, a renowned bassist who will be performing in the

concert, runs the JazzMasters workshop at the Boys and Girls Club of

Laguna Beach. He teaches children jazz fundamentals at the most basic

level, Hughes said. Saturday’s concert will exhibit the kind of

product that can result when music makes a positive impact on a

child’s life at an early age, Hughes said.

“[The audience is] going to be exposed to the joy of music, and

see what happens with the mentoring process from father to son,”

Hughes said.

Charles McPherson and his son Chuck are prime examples of what can

happen when a child has a positive role model in music. Chuck

McPherson, who has been playing the drums professionally since he was

16, said he was influenced by his father’s work and from being

surrounded by some of jazz’s greatest when he was growing up.

“Just being in the environment, I picked it up,” McPherson said.

Now, McPherson said he performs with his father about five or six

times a year and truly enjoys the experience.

“Learning music at a very early age is like a child learning a

language at a very early age,” Charles McPherson said.

Tickets to the concert cost $15 to $30 and are available through

the Laguna Beach Playhouse office, by calling (949) 497-2787 or

online at https://www.lagunabeachlive.org.