Dr. JB Dyas
Dr. JB Dyas has been a pioneering force in jazz education for over three decades. As Vice President for Education and Curriculum Development at the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz at UCLA, he oversees the Institute's extensive education and outreach initiatives, including Jazz in America (www.jazzinamerica.org), one of the most influential and far-reaching jazz education programs in the world. He has led jazz workshops, teacher-training seminars, and "informances" (educational performances) across the globe, collaborating with such renowned artists as Ambrose Akinmusire, Don Braden, Bobby Broom, Dave Brubeck, Gerald Clayton, Robin Eubanks, Herbie Hancock, Antonio Hart, Marquis Hill, Ingrid Jensen, Sean Jones, Delfeayo Marsalis, Christian McBride, Dayna Stephens, Bobby Watson, and Steve Wilson.
Before joining the Hancock Institute, Dyas served as Executive Director of the Brubeck Institute, where he developed and launched its College Fellowship Program, Brubeck Festival, Summer Jazz Colony, and Jazz Outreach Initiative. Prior to that, he was Director of Jazz Studies at Miami-Dade College – one of the nation’s largest and most diverse educational institutions – and New World School of the Arts – Miami’s acclaimed performing arts high school.
Throughout his career, Dyas has performed nationwide, developed innovative jazz curricula, directed ensembles of all sizes, and taught jazz to students of every level – age eight to eighty, beginner to professional, learning-challenged to prodigy. His work has taken him to six continents, where he has conducted clinics, adjudicated jazz festivals, and led teacher-training workshops in Australia, Canada, Colombia, Cuba, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, Russia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and across the United States. He also teaches Jazz Pedagogy at the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance at UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music and serves as an adjudicator for the annual GRAMMY Music Educator Award.
A prolific writer and thought leader in jazz education, Dyas has contributed numerous articles to DownBeat magazine and other national music publications, presented at over a dozen International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE) and Jazz Education Network (JEN) Conferences, co-founded the International Sisters in Jazz Collegiate Competition, and served on the Smithsonian Institution’s Task Force for Jazz Education in America. He also has taught at the Jamey Aebersold Summer Jazz Workshop and other premier summer jazz programs, contributed the chapter “Defining Jazz Education” to the biography David Baker - A Legacy in Music, and developed a widely used series of teacher-training jazz pedagogy videos.
Dyas recently introduced his “What is Jazz and Why It’s Important to the World” lecture for International Jazz Day, for which he annually presents global education events in partnership with the Hancock Institute and UNESCO. He has also led a number of jazz "informances" at the U.S. Department of Education, advocating for music education in public schools – including a national webinar that has garnered over 500,000 views on YouTube.
Dr. Dyas holds a Master’s degree in Jazz Pedagogy from the University of Miami and a PhD in Music Education from Indiana University, and is a recipient of the DownBeat Achievement Award for Jazz Education. A professional bassist, he has performed well over 1,000 jazz and commercial music engagements and continues to lead jazz clinics, professional development workshops, and leadership seminars worldwide. www.jbdyas.com