The best school you've never heard of

Overshadowed by a hundred years of tradition at the University of Southern California, the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz existed all too quietly on campus for the last eight years. And now, it's gone.

By Matt Jung
We've Got the Monk

The old site of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz on the USC campus.
Grammy Award winner Terence Blanchard coaches the Monk jazz group in February, 2007.

On a normal fall weekday, fans, journalists and unprecedented hype surround some of the best football players in the nation at the University of Southern California's practice football field.

But just a few buildings away, some of the best young jazz musicians in the world would be hard at work, completely unbeknownst to the average passerby.

Tucked away in an unassuming building, hidden by campus foliage and dwarfed by the neighboring shrine for athletic achievements, sat the Thelonious Monk Institute for Jazz.

The two-year program was housed on the USC campus since 1999 until this fall when the school relocated to New Orleans. Over the course of its tenure, students have come from four different continents to study at the prestigious institute.

“The students in the program have access to the greatest jazz musicians in the world in a small environment in a way that most jazz programs can’t provide," said Daniel Seeff, director of the program.

The tuition-free institute is only open to up to seven students at a time, just enough to make one small jazz combo.

Upon entering the program, the students then live and play with this same group of musicians for the next two years, allowing them to developing a tight musical bond that many groups in the modern jazz scene never achieve.

In addition, the students get to work with some of the biggest names in jazz every week. Past instructors have included pianist Herbie Hancock and saxophonist Wayne Shorter, as well as the institute's artistic director, Grammy Award-winning trumpeter Terence Blanchard.

“They all work us very hard, naturally. Terence, especially," said drummer Zach Harmon, 2007 graduate of the institute. "He expects a lot from us.”

Harmon was in USC's separate jazz program for two years before transferring to the Monk Institute. Harmon is the first USC student to be accepted into the prestigious program.

“When I was in USC, at least the major I was in, there was no stress on composition. So once I came here, that was the first time I had ever written a tune,” Harmon said.

Although the program is not directly affiliated with the university, the students say they enjoyed being on the USC campus.

“Last year I got to watch Reggie Bush walk by every day. It’s inspiring,” said Ambrose Akinmusire, trumpeter and 2007 graduate.

This schoolyear is the first in almost a decade that the school is not being housed at USC. In August, the institute relocated to Loyola University in New Orleans in an effort to bring culture back to the hurricane-ravaged city.

The seven members of the new class of 2009 were chosen from over 100 musicians that sent in audition tapes from all over the world.

Graduates of the institute have gone to the forefront of today's jazz scene, winning many international awards, playing on many top-selling albums, and one has even returned to USC as an adjunct instructor.