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We're in an interesting position at Belmont-we offer a degree in "Commercial Music" so that covers the entire gamut. A student might play a Level 42 piece, a Bebop Standard on upright, An Alain Caron piece, and a R and B standard (say, Everything is Everything with Willie Weeks bass solo) on a Junior or Senior Recital. I've even had students play "Joe Frazier" and "Bach"
We're pretty serious about keeping our instruction based around Jazz Harmony, Improv, and marketable skills like sightreading (Jamerson's good for that because unless you're reading Zappa scores those same syncopations occur over and over again, only less so because they've been "dumbed down" by arrangers in Pop and R and B). I just graded a guitar student's senior recital that included Liquid Tension Experiment tunes and "All the Things You Are".
One of the most interesting things that happened to me as a young student at NTSU was that the program was SO Straight-ahead Jazz oriented that I would routinely send bass players who were in the higher Lab Bands (in the 70s that was the Caste system there, starting with the 1:00 O'Clock and going down to the 10:00 O'Clock band) as subs only to be told by the Contractors/Bandleaders in Dallas, "Please don't send that guy again-his electric sound is terrible, his feel is funny, and he doesn't know any current tunes!" The program was SO Jazz-oriented that all they taught or encouraged at the time was Upright Bass. The successful players there became successful at what worked in the "bubble" of the Jazz Program, but when they went into the Commercial Sector, trouble.
So-I teach Slap, Motown, Standards, Improv, Charlie Parker solo transcriptions, transcriptions of current bassists and other musicians like Chick Corea, Pat Martino and Clifford Brown, have the students do their OWN transcribing, Dotzauer Cello etudes, Bach Violin Partitas, Upright Doubling, Nashville Number System and session techniques (we have to often compose a part that supports the singer, creates the arrangement, and locks the Rhythm Section together in very specific styles in 10-15 minutes or less), Joe Diorio's intervallic approach, Slominsky, you name it. I look as my work as a Bass Teacher as a vocational instructor, much like some of my friends who taught at BIT in the '80s (the late Jim Lacefield, Jeff, Steve Bailey, Alex Sklarevski and others). I want people to graduate who are employable, but more importantly I want them to learn how to learn. As the tides of the Music Biz change, players who learn how to learn can adapt. That leads to long, prosperous careers in this really unstable business.
FWIW, I've advised more than one student to attend the Player's School of Music (either an Intensive or longer courses) BEFORE they come to Belmont. I think Jeff's approach guarantees good students who will become Musical Winners.
I believe he's still playing, mostly at BB King's these days. I played the Clarksville River Stages with Stan Lassiter and Dale Armstrong last September (talk about some Old School Fusion) and he and his band played right after us. They fairly well smoked-great bass player!
