Joe DeJarnette, Jr. "The horn followed me to every job"
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Joe DeJarnette,
Jr. first picked up the trumpet at age 16 and has never put it down.
His love affair with jazz music started when Joe and his grandfather
were walking down the street and Joe noticed a trumpet in the window
of a music store. After high school he enlisted in the army and, of
course, his trumpet followed. While in the military he took his horn
and his talent to the U.S. 
19th
and 173rd Military Orchestra where he received an AAA rating, of which
DeJarnette boasts, "You don't get a AAA rating by being a crummy musician." After
serving two years in the army it was the year 1964 and the jazz scene
in Cleveland was humming. DeJarnette took his music to the stage where
he played his most memorable venue with Duke Ellington. As a trumpet
player DeJarnette was influenced by jazz musicians Dizzy Gillespie,
Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Thelonius Monk, and Clifford Brown.
Pictured: Joe DeJarnette, Jr. shaking hands with jazz great Duke Ellington during a performance featuring Duke Ellington & His Big Orchestra and the Joe DeJarnette Jazz Quintet.
Besides his studies at East Technical and John Hay High Schools, Joe studied music at the Modern School of Music at Lakeland Community College (studying music theory under Phil Rizzo 1973-74), The Cleveland Institute of Music (studying Dalcroze Eurhythmics and theory with Harry Herfort 1963), and the Hruby Conservatory of Music (trumpet with Alois Hruby of the Cleveland Orchestra).
With traditional classroom instruction in addition to private instruction, Joe Dejarnette had the makings of a great teacher, so teach he did. As an assistant music coordinator at the Cleveland Board of Education's Cleveland Supplementary Education Center, Joe synchronized music education for 26 music teachers and over 1,000 students. As "Musician-at-Large" for the Cleveland Area Arts Council, Joe's "JazzMo '76" was a traveling jazzmobile show that performed 14 community concerts one summer. Joe DeJarnette also served the area as music director for the City of Cleveland Department of Recreation's Cultural Arts program, instructing young musicians in music theory.
In 1998 Joe DeJarnette retired from his position at the Department of Recreation, but his dedication to teaching jazz continued. He organized the Diversity Jazz & String Orchestra. This program featured some of the students to whom he provided guidance.
Mr.
DeJarnette has continued to pursue the teacher-student theme in his
career by performing for many colleges in the area including Cuyahoga
Community College, Edinborogh University of Pennsylvania, Ursuline
College, The Cleveland Music School Settlement, Cleveland State University,
Hiram College, Muskingham College, Lakeland Community College, John
Carroll University, Central Michigan University, and Mount Union College.
He has performed a Jazz Vespers program at area churches including
Calvary Presbyterian, Church of the Covenant, Church of the Savior,
Antioch Baptist, Fifth Christian. He plans to release a CD in the
near future.
Joe DeJarnette: Lakewood resident, exceptional teacher, musician, humanitarian. Mr. DeJarnette wants to bring more creativity, art, and music to Lakewood, and the world. Although his most memorable concert was the one with Duke Ellington he mentions playing at Beck Center for the Arts where he would like to return. On the topic of return performances DeJarnette says, "Always give one hundred percent and you will always get invited back." In a world where music is often controlled by image Joe DeJarnette "never sold out."
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"When
you hear a ballad you can't escape it, you can't fly over it.
It moves slowly." DeJarnette says, "A musician playing
a ballad has to have a good command of what he is playing. It
offers you an opportunity to make musical statements. Silence
becomes music in some instances." |
Recent Performances:
For
more information or bookings Available
for: |
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Musical
Journey:
- "Joe DeJarnette, Jr: Lakewood’s Luminous Link to Lessons Learned in the Brass Tradition" by Kenneth Warren, Lakewood Observer, Volume 5, Issue 4, February 24, 2009.
media.lakewoodobserver.com/issue_pdfs/Observer_Vol_05_Issue_04.pdf - "Dejarnette is still teaching the joys of jazz" by Carlo Wolff, Plain Dealer, November 29, 1998
- "Master of the chameleon" by Dwane Cheeks, Plain Dealer, May 15, 1987
- "Jazz stars help hunger fund" by Richard M. Peery Plain Dealer, October 4, 1991
- Who's Who Among Black Americans, 1975-76 Edition.
- "Joe Dejarnette: Cool Complex and Caring" Crusader Urban News, February 22-March 6, 1996.
- Images From the Heart: A Bicentennial Celebration of Cleveland and Its People, Diana Tittle, editor. Cleveland Bicentennial Commission, c1995.
The Joe DeJarnette Sextet performs in WKYC TV studios, ca. 1971.
