SDSU Jazz Studies finds its groove

Jazz music has captivated audiences for generations. People fall in love with the music style for its smooth blend of instruments, combined with the excitement and anticipation from the genre’s improvisational spirit.

The exchange of energy between musicians when they’re jamming out together is palpable, unique, and never exactly the same. 

As all the instruments come together, each bringing their own unique sound and flair to the table, a special form of live art is created and shared, coming alive right before the audience’s eyes.

“It can be really exhilarating to not know exactly what’s gonna happen,” said Brian Levy, director of San Diego State University Jazz Studies since 2023. “When things really work and click, it’s really exciting.”

Levy, a tenor saxophonist, recording artist, and musicologist, grew up in San Diego. He spent most of his career teaching in Boston and New York, and said he felt enthusiastic about finally returning to his beloved hometown of San Diego.

Levy has played jazz for over 40 years, inspired by musicians such as John Coltrane and Charlie Parker along his journey, and he aspires to make SDSU the ultimate destination for jazz.

And he is well on his way. The SDSU jazz program has seen significant growth in recent years. Enrollment in the major has tripled, and the program has expanded to include a new Jazz Vocals emphasis.

Levy has worked to breathe life into the program along with nationally-recognized faculty who play high-profile concerts and tours around the world, including Gilbert Castellanos, Jane Monheit, Luca Alemanno, and Steve Cotter.

Levy said Castellanos is “the biggest jazz name in Southern California,” and has curated concerts for the San Diego Jazz Symphony and for the Rady Shell, bringing a unique and well-experienced perspective to the program.

Levy is the lead author of “Chasin’ the Sound: Learning Jazz Improvisation through Historical Models,” a textbook published by Oxford University Press that he uses to inform the jazz curriculum at SDSU. 

The program also frequently features top guest-artists, typically six to seven a year, according to Levy.

“We’re bringing in the best of the best from all over the country to come give master classes, do jam sessions, and to perform in concerts with our students,” Levy said. “Our students have an opportunity to perform in live concerts with some of the best jazz musicians in the world.”

Levy said he hasn’t seen opportunities like this for students in most places, even at top music conservatories. 

“We’re rebranding SDSU as the place where you can get the conservatory experience but within a university curriculum,” Levy said. “And that’s centered on hands-on experience, performing, and learning from people who themselves are not just teachers, but who perform.”

Luke Little, a second-year jazz student at SDSU, has been a jazz musician for four years and played professionally for two years.

“SDSU's jazz department is a thriving scene,” Little said. “There is a lot of energy in the air right now and good music is being made every day by people that care about the things that are most important in life.”

Little, a recipient of the Paul C. Stauffer Memorial Scholarship from SDSU, plays upright bass, electric bass and is currently learning piano.

“The thing I love most about playing jazz is that at the right moment with the right people, I am completely free to express myself and also to listen to the great thing that is happening around me,” Little said. “But even above that, there's simply a feeling to it that transcends words.”

Little is currently touring abroad in Hungary, playing bass in the Szeged Jazz Days festival with SDSU jazz pianist Quincy Reyes, as well as their saxophonist, Kahlil Childs, and drummer, Zollie Wariner.

“I would encourage everybody, even those who don't like music, to give our concerts a chance just for the sake of supporting the arts, which we all wouldn't be here without,” Little said. 

SDSU Jazz program concerts are open to the public, bringing unique jazz experiences to not only students, but also the greater San Diego region.

The next Jazz program event, Brian Levy and Gilbert Castellanos with SDSU Jazz Combos, is Dec. 12 at 7:30 p.m.

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