JAZZ EDUCATION NETWORK

EFCF Fellowship Recipient

2026 EFCF Fellowship Recipient

Read Sam's Bio
Read James' Bio

The Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation (in Los Angeles, CA) is prepared to make a monetary grant of between one thousand and five thousand dollars, and an additional thousand dollars may be awarded towards travel and accommodations if the Foundation deems this necessary.

submissions are due by October 15

Grant awardee will be notified by November 31.

  • The project will be allowed up to two years for final completion or the fellowship money must be refunded in full.
  • Final presentation of the project will take place at the Jazz Education Network (JEN) Conference.
  • A written document/summation (non-exclusively) published through JEN is also required to be completed no later than six months after the final presentation.

After starting your application by clicking below, please submit the following application materials. Click below to begin application.

  1. Research Proposal
  2. Curriculum Vitae
  3. Letter of Reference
  4. Budget

We look forward to reviewing your application materials!

JEN Research Committee

You must be a JEN Full Indivudual member to submit this application.

APPLICATIONS CLOSED UNTIL 2025

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DR. SAMUEL GRIFFITH

 

Sam Griffith is an educator, trombonist and composer who currently resides in Columbia, Missouri. Originally from Monterey, California, Sam fell in love with Jazz at an early age in large part due to the work of the Monterey Jazz Festival’s education programs. Sam received a B.F.A. in Jazz Studies from the New School (2005), an M.M. in Trombone Performance from California State University, Sacramento (2010) and a D.M.A. in Jazz Studies and Pedagogy from the University of Colorado, Boulder (2013).


After completing his doctorate, Sam joined the faculty at the University of California, Davis (2013-2017) in the position of Director of Jazz Ensembles. In addition to directing, Sam created two innovative courses – Kansas City Jazz and Gangsters, and Jazz in The Industrialized City: 1920-1960 that focused on developing an understanding of Jazz through the history and growth of cities in the United States. In 2017, Sam was hired as Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Missouri, a job that gave him greater proximity to the rich history of Kansas City. In this role Sam directs jazz ensembles in addition to teaching coursework related to the jazz minor and a new iteration of his Kansas City Jazz and Gangsters course.


Sam is an active clinician and adjudicator. In 2018, Sam presented “How Many Slash Marks Are Too Many: What Jazz Pedagogy, Drum-set Pedagogy, and Arrangers Say About Writing for Drums” at the International Jazz Arrangers Symposium in Greeley, Colorado. In 2020, Sam published The Jazz Trombone Book (Press) a method-book that applies modern motor-learning methodologies to the practice of jazz trombone.


In addition to regularly performing as a sideman and leader, Sam has prioritized performing original compositions and collaborating with locally based organizations and student ensembles. In 2014, he premiered “The Refugee Suite” with one of his bands at UC-Davis. In 2017, he received funding from the Mizzou New Music Initiative to compose and record “The Beetle Bailey Suite” with local high schools from Mid-Missouri and the Columbia Jazz Orchestra. In 2024, he recorded a new suite of music, “The People of Columbia” with the Columbia Jazz Orchestra. In addition to these larger works, Sam frequently composes for large and small groups under his direction at MU.


During his time at CU Sam developed an affinity for the history of Kansas City, and its significance in the history of Jazz. This interest has resulted in several research and educational endeavors including lecturing on Kansas City Jazz at institutions across North America, giving a poster presentation on the Kansas City Jazz Style at the 2024 International Jazz Arrangers Symposium and the creation of an upcoming podcast series comprised of historical interviews relevant to Kansas City Jazz. In the summer of 2025 Sam completed a manuscript on the life and music of Kansas City band leader Bennie Moten (under review for publication). In addition to his movie activities, Sam enjoys walking his dogs and learning new board games.

DR. JAMES HEAZLEWOOD-DALE

 

Dr. James Heazlewood-Dale is a Grammy-nominated bassist and scholar, hailing from Melbourne, Australia. Venturing to Boston to pursue studies in jazz double bass at the prestigious Berklee College of Music and the New England Conservatory, where he received full scholarships, Dr. Heazlewood-Dale has shared the stage with world-renowned artists, including Jacob Collier, Donny McCaslin, Zakir Hussain, Kurt Elling, Ingrid Jensen, Grace Kelly, and Terence Blanchard. He completed his Ph.D. at Brandeis University in 2024, writing his dissertation on the intersection of video game music and jazz. In recognition of outstanding academic achievement, Dr. Heazlewood-Dale was honored with Brandeis University’s Provost Research Award.


His ludomusicological contributions can be read in Jazz and Culture and Environmental Humanities and the Video Game, as well as in a number of forthcoming chapters and articles exploring topics such as jazz scoring in transmedia adaptations, video game music and disabilities, and Japanese jazz fusion in the Mario Kart series. Among his public-facing work, two highlights are a commission by Decca Records to write the liner notes for the soundtrack release of The Callisto Protocol (2022) and a scholarly guest appearance in Adam Neely’s acclaimed video essay “The Nintendo-fication of Jazz.” He currently serves as the co-chair for the American Musicological Society’s Ludomusicology Study Group

charlotte lang

Swiss/Dutch saxophonist Charlotte Lang was born in 1996 in Basel and studied the bachelor and master program at the JAZZCAMPUS Basel under the guidance of Domenic Landolf and Daniel Blanc. She is currently studying the Master of Music in Global Jazz at the Berklee College of Music in Boston under the artistic direction of Danilo Pérez. In addition she is part of Terri Lyne Carrington’s Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice.

 

From 2015 to 2018, Charlotte she was a member of the Swiss National Youth Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Christian Muthspiel. Since 2020, she became a member of the German National Youth Jazz Orchestra (Bundesjazzorchester Deutschland), under the direction of Niels Klein and Ansgar Striepens. She also plays is the Austrian FJO (Frauen Jazz Orchester→Women Jazz Orchestra of Austria).

 

In 2021, Charlotte founded her own Quintet the „Charlotte Lang Group“, for what she is composing, arranging and booking. In the fall 2023, her first album will be recorded and hopefully released by a renowned label.

 

Charlotte plays in the “Swiss Jazz Orchestra” and the “Zurich Jazz Orchestra”, the two professional Big Bands of Switzerland.

Charlotte recently got the unique opportunity to write a monthly blog for the Swiss Jazz & Blues Magazine called JAZZTIME, to tell readers about her time at abroad and specifically her time at Berklee. Her graduate program lasts only until the summer of 2023. She hopes to stay in the United States to enlarge her network and build her musical career.