By Robert Keough

	Jaleel's Audio • Whatever (J.Shaw) Listen: slow | fast

Performances like that one made Jaleel Shaw the winner of 1998 Billboard Scholarship Award as the most promising young musician at Berklee. Shaw was the third student—and the first horn player—to win the Billboard award, following in the footsteps of pianists Vincent Bourgeyx, of Bourdeaux, France, and Leo Blanco, of Mérida, Venezuela.

The Billboard award, presented each year at the Commencement concert, is one of the most prestigious honors Berklee bestows on its students, coming as it does from the premier publication of the music industry. Howard Lander, president and publisher of Billboard, calls Shaw an excellent choice for the award, which he says reflects his magazine's commitment to "discover, nurture and promote new talent."

"It's an honor for me," says the quiet, unassuming young altoist. When he was told he had won the college's top award, Shaw says, "I ran home and called my mom."

	Jalees Shaw takes a solo at the 1999 Commencement Concert
	Photo by Bob Kramer

Shaw came to the saxophone almost by process of elimination. He took drum lessons and piano lessons in kindergarten, but gave them up. In fourth grade, band instruments were introduced in his school, but his mother vetoed both his first and second choices. "My mom says the trumpet was too loud, and the drums were just too much," he says.

Shaw played clarinet for a year, then switched to saxophone. Before long, he was studying at the Philadelphia Settlement Music School and the Maplewood Music School, and taken under the wing of Philadelphia's leading musicians, from Rob Landham to Grover Washington, Jr. "It was really a family," Shaw says of the Philadelphia music scene. By the time he was twelve, Shaw was attending Clark Terry's jazz camps in the summer; later he would go to Philadelphia's Creative and Performing Arts High School.

But no instructor was more influential than Bobby Watson, an early idol who Shaw got the opportunity to study with for two years. Watson "helped me a lot as a person as well as a musician," says Shaw. "He's really dedicated, and he's a family man, you know what I mean? Somebody you could really look up to."

There was no question in Shaw's mind that Berklee was the place to go for college, and once he won a scholarship from the national scholarship tour, that cinched it. And since he arrived here in the fall of 1996, majoring in Performance and Music Education, he has not been disappointed. "It's not only Berklee but Boston. It's the best place for learning jazz," says Shaw.

Nor have his teachers been disappointed. "He's an excellent young musician," says Bill Pierce, chair of the woodwind department. "And he's respectful. I'm still trying to get him not to call me Mr. Pierce."

Shaw credits saxophone teacher Andy McGhee for "putting me in the right direction. He kicked my butt. I really appreciate it." Now, Shaw thinks nothing of disappearing into a practice room and not emerging for six hours.

For the Billboard award winner, the opportunities keep coming. Shaw went to the JVC Jazz Festival in New York with a Berklee student group, and took an eight-day tour of France with Phil Wilson's big band. Shaw was also chosen to lead a quartet of his own at the Monterey Jazz Festival.

"It's great," says Shaw, about the places Berklee sends him and other rising stars. "I don't know any other school that does that."

Being at college also gave him the opportunity last May to perform for and meet one of his jazz idols, Wayne Shorter, when the saxophonist and composer came to Berklee to accept an honorary doctorate at the 1999 Commencement Ceremony.

"He has been one of my favorites since I was a kid; I had all of his Blue Note CDs when I was 13," Shaw says after the Commencement Concert. Shorter was sitting in the audience as Shaw performed a searing alto solo on Shorter's "Elegant People."

"Afterwards I was so nervous about meeting (Shorter) that the guys had to push me over to him," Shaw says (see photograph). "He says I did a good job but I didn't know what to say to him. I had all my Wayne Shorter CDs in my pocket but I completely blanked and forgot to ask him to sign them."

News about Shaw's talents has spread through the Boston music community, keeping his schedule crowded with peformances and recordings. In addition to his studies, Shaw has been a regular member of two busy jazz groups in Boston, Either Orchestra and the New Life Orchestra. His saxophone playing will be heard on Either Orchestra's newest disc, targeted for an early 2000 release.

Bill Pierce says Shaw is the kind of young player that makes the most of every opportunity. "He takes everything given to him very seriously," says Pierce. "You don't have to worry about him showing up on time and taking care of business."

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