JGT Artist Interview: Jazz Guitarist Bill Boris

JR: After you graduated from Notre Dame, how did you come to work in Chicago?

BB: After I graduated, I was teaching lessons and playing gigs in South Bend. I knew I was going back to Japan in the Fall. I tried to get my visa changed to include playing music, but the Japanese government wouldn’t make an exception. After about two years I returned to South Bend and soon after I was working 4-5 nights a week. I played in a bunch of different bands playing covers and things like that, but soon it was a Jazz trio. We also played with great musicians from Chicago that would come down to play with us. One of the guys, Franz Jackson, was a traditional jazz musician, played with Fletcher Henderson, Earl Hines, Fats Waller, he was the real deal. He lived in Niles, Michigan back then. He told me one time at a jam session he sounded better than Coleman Hawkins, and he left right away so he could leave on a high note! He was into karate, an entertainer, he was really something. Anyway, he was one of many Chicago musicians we played with. Then I joined a Rock n Roll band that backed up 50s and 60s artists that had hit records and we did tours. On one of these tours, I told the guest conductor that I had seen him on TV. He said, “Yes, we’re doing a show called “Beehive” in Chicago.” I had just moved down to Florida with this band, and I didn’t like it. I told him I wanted to do the show. And through talking to him, I got to be musical director of the show. And that’s how I moved to Chicago. The show lasted over a year. After that I was playing in clubs all over the city in many different bands. In 2001, a week after 9/11 in fact, Frank Dawson (Chicago Jazz legend and noted educator) called me on a Friday and asked if I was available to teach. But he said I had to start Monday. And I had to think about it, whether it was the right thing for me to do. I accepted, and that’s how I began teaching at Columbia as a private lessons teacher.

JR: Full time or Part time?

BB: Part time. Then I was offered to sub for teaching an ensemble, which I did, and I think I actually started a jazz organ trio for students on my own, and began teaching jazz combos after that. I became Coordinator of Fretboard Studies after the most unfortunate thing happened, and that was the passing of Frank Dawson. 

JR: Which by the way, this year is the tenth anniversary of Frank Dawson’s passing, which is wild to think about. It’s already been ten years.

BB: Yeah. And its one thing to get a new job, but it was difficult to get the job that way.

JR: I understand because we all looked up to Frank so much.

BB: It was sad to get the job. The excitement that one might have for a new position and to create some new things wasn’t quite there. There was a lot of melancholy in that situation. I wanted to do it, but it was something to have to think about that for awhile.

JR: What were some important things you learned from Frank?

BB: Patience, encouragement, clarity, and humor. I noticed how he was with students, and he was very patient and encouraging. I saw his interaction with students, and he really cared for students. He took his job very seriously and provided everything he could for his students. He created all these binders for the students so they could have all the information they could need. He’d spend hours and hours making these sheets explaining harmony, and scales, and string groups and positions on the neck. 

JR: He was the best. And now you are Associate Chair of the Music Department. What does Columbia College Chicago offer that no other school does? What can it offer young people who are looking to study what other schools might not offer?

BB: There are several things. Our approach to harmony uses popular music and recognizes the influence of African Music on American Music besides the traditional European model, although you can still study string quartets and learn about that. We use songs they already know to teach them harmony, rhythm and melody. So the way we teach theory now is called “Foundations”. It’s four days a week, and there is a writing/producing, singing and listening component. So they learn everything any other student learns in music theory but it’s presented in a more contemporary approach. In production they are producing music of their own using various DAWS, so they are making music in their first semester. It’s broken down into three different sections and meets four days a week. It’s very thorough. And we have great facilities and a state of the art digital lab. We also have many ensembles focusing on Fusion, Latin, R&B, Jazz, Gospel and other genres; you can really come out of Columbia with a broad understanding of many styles. We’ve probably expanded a lot from when you were there (I graduated from Columbia College Chicago in 2008… YES, they have expanded a LOT-JR).  The diversity of our students and the spirit of collaboration create a wonderful learning environment. Students come from all over the US and the world, and they are all unique. Everyone is interested in learning about the other students there. They are open to new experiences and there is never a condescending attitude toward one another. There is a collaborative environment at Columbia. They are inspired to work hard because they see other talented people. The curriculum is also very fluid and changes to meet the present but also to meet the needs of the students for the future, and we are very aware of what the students’ interests are, so we can address that versus telling them what they need to know. We are trying to provide them what will help them grow and give them the skills to adjust to an ever-changing world, including adjusting to remote teaching during this trying time during the pandemic.

JR: What adjustments have you and the other faculty made during this time?

BB: Through ZOOM we’re doing recording projects, having meetings about how we’re going to do our tracks, we’re doing meetings, remote recordings and video sessions. The online private lessons are as good and maybe better because students now have more time. They are more focused. It’s the nature of our music department to adapt and change with the times. Everybody in the department works very hard and works together. Which is the same as when you went to Columbia, and it’s continued. It’s a really good group of people that works there.

JR: Where do see the music business now, going into the future as we see constant change in music consumption and how musicians are supposed to make a living?

BB: Nothing replaces the ability to play the instrument really well, so that’s first and foremost. They should record themselves and others. Other skill sets should include being able to write and arrange for others, and have business sense to promote. They should have a website which showcases their talent. Having the technology to record yourselves and send files around is important, and to collaborate with others, and be aware of social media and how to use it to promote your music.

JR: And finally, where do you see the future of Jazz guitar?

BB: I think there’s been a resurgence in the last 15 years for straight-ahead Jazz guitar, and by that I mean a straight, rich Jazz guitar tone ala Kenny Burrell or Grant Green. There are a lot of fans for that sound. After the age of Fusion died down, I think there was a greater appreciation for guitar sounds and playing from the 60s. Going forward, modern players like Lage Lund and Mike Moreno have taken Bebop and added to it to use that language on modern tunes. So I think it will continue to evolve, but I think you will always hear the vocabulary or the roots of the vocabulary in the new language that’s being created. And I think the music will change both harmonically and rhythmically reflecting the culture that the young musicians have grown up in. 

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