From Delaware to Trinidad: Educator and musician Joe Baione crosses oceans and cultures

Delaware and Trinidad, jazz and calypso

The idea to bring calypso beats to students at Lake Forest schools isn’t a new one. Baione, a jazz lover and skilled performer, introduces his students to diverse musical genres. That includes inviting a Caribbean calypso musician to play with sixth- through eighth-graders this winter.
“I try to select songs that have that flavor, that island flavor, and they really like it,” he said.

But the idea to take jazz to students in Trinidad was one that came up last year while Baione was playing a festival in the small Caribbean country. Festival organizer Mortimer Baptiste asked Baione if he might be interested in bringing jazz to young Trinidadians and taking calypso and steel drums to his students in Delaware. Baione jumped at the opportunity to connect the students by the universal language of music.

Lake Forest students might get the chance to interact with a Trinidadian musician as soon as spring 2010, if all goes well, and eventually Baione would like to bring exchange students into the mix. First, however, he introduced Caribbean students to American music.

Baione, drummer Aaron Walker of Wilmington and bassist Marco Panascia of New York City reached out to 12- to 19-year-old students during four workshops throughout Trinidad. Whether the workshops had 10 or 200, the students were intrigued, Baione said.

“They’re mostly calypso and Caribbean, so the blues is new for them,” he said. “When I said we’d play the blues, they understood a little bit.”

Baione’s goal was to explain to students that the blues are to Americans what calypso is to them, and then fuse some of those sounds together during a performance. That was easy. Teaching students simple blues methods and getting them to participate at some of the workshops wasn’t so easy.

Baione’s wife Paige blogged during the trip, and noted that some of the students were stiff at first and shy about getting up on stage. Once they did, however, they were greeted with cheers and excitement by their fellow students. There was a complete lack of jeering or snickering, she said. Only encouragement.

Jazz vibraphonist and Lake Forest educator Joe Baione’s recent trip to Trinidad didn’t have an auspicious start. Still, the excursion that started with a missed flight and included a power outage in the middle of the performance was a rewarding one, and one that benefits students thousands of miles apart.

Delaware and Trinidad, jazz and calypso

The idea to bring calypso beats to students at Lake Forest schools isn’t a new one. Baione, a jazz lover and skilled performer, introduces his students to diverse musical genres. That includes inviting a Caribbean calypso musician to play with sixth- through eighth-graders this winter.
“I try to select songs that have that flavor, that island flavor, and they really like it,” he said.

But the idea to take jazz to students in Trinidad was one that came up last year while Baione was playing a festival in the small Caribbean country. Festival organizer Mortimer Baptiste asked Baione if he might be interested in bringing jazz to young Trinidadians and taking calypso and steel drums to his students in Delaware. Baione jumped at the opportunity to connect the students by the universal language of music.

Lake Forest students might get the chance to interact with a Trinidadian musician as soon as spring 2010, if all goes well, and eventually Baione would like to bring exchange students into the mix. First, however, he introduced Caribbean students to American music.

Baione, drummer Aaron Walker of Wilmington and bassist Marco Panascia of New York City reached out to 12- to 19-year-old students during four workshops throughout Trinidad. Whether the workshops had 10 or 200, the students were intrigued, Baione said.

“They’re mostly calypso and Caribbean, so the blues is new for them,” he said. “When I said we’d play the blues, they understood a little bit.”

Baione’s goal was to explain to students that the blues are to Americans what calypso is to them, and then fuse some of those sounds together during a performance. That was easy. Teaching students simple blues methods and getting them to participate at some of the workshops wasn’t so easy.

Baione’s wife Paige blogged during the trip, and noted that some of the students were stiff at first and shy about getting up on stage. Once they did, however, they were greeted with cheers and excitement by their fellow students. There was a complete lack of jeering or snickering, she said. Only encouragement.

Musical roots run deep for students

When young musicians took the stage to try out steel drums, guitar, bass and drums, both Baione and Panascia noticed their connection to their native music.

“They’re in that culture where it’s in their blood. As they play and perform there’s a certain appreciation of the roots where they were created,” Baione said.

Panascia said that innate connection to music is similar to the one he grew up with in Italy.
“In Italy we have a major tradition of opera and classical music, so a lot of young kids when they start studying an instrument that’s what they base their studies on,” he said.

As for jazz, they were naturals at that, too.

“It was really nice to see such young kids already mastering rhythmical concepts and musical concepts at such a young age,” Panascia said.

Unfortunately, American students don’t always share that deep respect and interest in the music of their country, Baione said. He’s hoping this program will help students understand and appreciate jazz and blues a little more while expanding their musical repertoires to include Caribbean sounds. They also can connect with students through the universal language of music.

To Panascia, one of the best things about outreach like this is that it introduces budding musicians to working ones.

“They still haven’t figured out what they’re going to do after they get out of school, out of college,” he said. “I think it’s good to get some insight.”