Pictured are students Rashann Ford (standing, left) and Christian Lloyd (standing, right). At the keyboard is Nelson. At right front is Denise La Grassa, lead faculty for jazz studies at Lincoln College.

Jazz Studies Students Gain Hands-On Experience with Chicago Trip
Rax Trax’ Barnes Donating Studio Time and Experience to Students

 

[February 28, 2018]  LINCOLN - Jazz studies students at Lincoln College will be taking their original compositions to Chicago’s Rax Trax studios in March for a day of hands-on experience, learning professional production and getting advice from producer-engineer Rick Barnes, the owner of Rax Trax.

“This is an incredible opportunity for our students to learn from one of the best known and most talented music producers in Chicago,” said Denise La Grassa, lead faculty for the Jazz Studies program at Lincoln College. “Rick is generously donating his talents and studio time so that our students can gain hands-on experience and also have their original compositions professionally produced.”

“When Denise told me about Lincoln College and what she is building there, I decided this was a project that I wanted to get involved in,” Barnes said. “I love that she is working with the students to draw on their own unique experiences and then create compositions that fuse, as an example, Jazz with Hip Hop to create the next generation of sound.”

About six students, most from Chicago, Oak Park, Calumet City and Aurora, will take part in the day-long session March 6, recording and mixing their own compositions. Later this year, the students will perform much of their music live on stage at Lincoln College as part of the spring jazz concert.

Although located in central Illinois, La Grassa explained that Lincoln College draws heavily from the Chicago area for its students. About one-third of the student body is comprised of graduates of the Chicago Public Schools and over half of the student body is African-American.

“Our students come from culturally rich and diverse backgrounds. In the Jazz Studies program, I encourage them to draw on their own experiences to make music that will be relevant and entertaining for the next generation,” La Grassa said. “Rick’s support gives our students an opportunity that they would not ordinarily have.”

In addition to operating Rax Trax, Barnes teaches music at Columbia College and is a guitarist with the Nicholas Tremulis Orchestra. At Rax Trax, Barnes has worked with a staggering list of clients, including Chicago blues legend Koko Taylor, the Smashing Pumpkins, Cheap Trick’s Bun E. Carlos, Ice Cube, Brian Wilson, Buddy Guy, George Thorogood, Alan Parsons, Darryl Jones of the Rolling Stones, and many others.

[Mark Gordon
Public Relations and Media Manager
Lincoln College]