Late Halifax jazz legend honoured with a new legacy fund

The Jerry Granelli Legacy Fund will go towards supporting the Creative Music Workshop — the flagship education program of the Halifax Jazz Festival

CITYnews halifax \ Steve Gow

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Revered musician Jerry Granelli is being honoured with a new fund that will exist to help carry on his legacy building the local jazz scene.

A world-renowned percussionist and music educator, Granelli was perhaps best known for his contribution as part of the Vince Guaraldi Trio who composed the popular soundtrack for the 1965 television special A Charlie Brown Christmas.

More recently, that included an annual series of local Tales of a Charlie Brown Christmas concert fundraisers.

Although the Halifax-based mentor passed away last July at the age 80, his name will live on in the Jerry Granelli Legacy Fund — an endowment that will provide scholarships to the Creative Music Workshop, a program he helped to develop.

“It’s a ten day intensive workshop for young musicians who gather from all over Canada really and it’s been going on for 25 years,” explained Andrew Killawee, president of the board of directors for the Halifax Jazz Festival. “This has been Jerry’s brainchild that he’s developed over that time (and) really over the last 20 years, it was Jerry who was taking this on and it was kind of his life’s mission I think.”

Since it was founded in 1996, the Creative Music Workshop has been a key educational part of the Halifax Jazz Festival. Under Granelli’s direction, it has gained a worldwide reputation for leading the way for young musicians and boasts alumni that have carved out successful careers as artists and educators.

“You don’t think of Halifax necessarily when you think of jazz hotspots in the world, but it has been a bit of a creative hotbed in the last 25 years and Jerry’s obviously been a big part of that,” notes Killawee, adding that the Creative Music Workshop has expanded in scope to include dancers and other types of artists . “(And) it has been a good component to our festival, the education component if you will.”

After Granelli passed away, many questioned who would lead the program in his absence.  Soon however, Jerry’s own son, J. Anthony Granelli, along with a group of dedicated workshop collaborators and students stepped up to ensure its continuance.

“In a sense, the folks that have really been the fuel to keep this going at a practical level are the folks that are with 1313 Music Association and that is the faculty that taught at the Creative Music Workshop,” adds Killawee. “That includes Jerry’s son — who lives in Brooklyn — and a whole cast of folks here in Halifax that have been teaching it over the years (so) they are the ones that are directly responsible for this fund and for moving this forward in the direction it is going.”

The Creative Music Workshop guides students and participants of all age and skill levels as they study the “artistic disciplines in the fundamentals and practice of improvisation in music and life.”

Scheduled to take place in July, the workshop aims to carry on the legacy of Granelli’s hard work and dedication that has helped to foster the music and arts community in Halifax.

The Jerry Granelli Legacy Fund resides with the Community Foundation of Nova Scotia in two funds — an endowment fund as well as a flow through fund that will be under the direction of 1313 Music Association.

“Folks in Halifax might know about (Granelli) most recently because of the Charlie Brown Christmas concerts that we put on,” adds Killawee. “(But) I think it would be interesting for folks to know just how much young people and young musicians meant to Jerry, how much fun he had doing those shows (and how he wanted) to build a real legacy for creativity and music here in East Coast Canada.”

For more information on the Jerry Granelli Legacy Fund, visit the website.