Lessons of history- past, present and future

The Jazz Workshop was started by Sam Favors as the "Musicians Creative Guild." This was long enough ago- at least 30 years- that the exact timeline has been lost. The workshop has taken place in several Minneapolis parks over the years, for a while even being funded by the Park District. Some of Sam's words remain with us, however:

The Musicians’ Creative Guild (MCG) is a community-based group, organized to develop activities and projects aimed toward increasing jazz music performance arts, business and artistic acumen. MCG hosts a weekly jazz workshop for musicians to practice their craft. The group also sponsors seminars and performs throughout the Twin Cities.

MCG projects included the Jazz Workshop, instrument-specific workshops, jazz history and listening sessions and the Freedom Jazz Festival. Sam Favors was one of the founders of the FJF, the first one happening in 1999 at Minnehaha Falls Park. He was held in high esteem by his fellow musicians. Sam has passed away but the FJF continues and has created the "Samuel F. Favors Award," presented annually to an African-American musician "representing the creativity, dedication, energy and spirit of Jazz in Minnesota and beyond."

This year the FJF will be August 1, 2009 at Minnehaha Falls Park. Festivals like this are important to the continuation of the legacy of jazz in the community- a legacy founded in the African-American experience in this nation. Sam had hoped that the MCG and the FJF would further an understanding of that legacy, enhance the Twin Cities jazz culture, bring this wonderful music to a new generation, bring jazz musicians and jazz fans together and enhance the community and family experience.

The goals of the Jazz Workshop are connected to these goals and to the purpose of the MCG: to help people develop the craft of playing jazz music, to expand artistry and improve the ability to make a living. There are many supporters of jazz music in the Twin Cities (some of them are listed over to the right side of this page). For jazz to continue we need musicians and an educated audience able to hear and understand what is being played. We hope that that the Jazz Workshop helps move the Twin Cities jazz scene just a little further along.