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When Charles Hamilton teaches jazz at Berkeley High, every note has to be perfect. 

It is perhaps dedication to excellence which earned Hamilton the Coca-Cola Company/National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts 2007 Distinguished Teacher in the Arts Award in January, and helped the BHS Jazz Combo win at the Folsom Jazz Festival last week. 

The Berkeley Unified School District honored Hamilton with “Jazz in Motion: In the Day of Charles Hamilton” at the Berkeley High Little Theatre on Saturday. 

In attendance were BUSD arts program coordianator Suzanne McCulloch, Berkeley High Principal Jim Slemp and Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates, who presented Hamilton with a proclamation. 

Described as the “glue that holds the BHS jazz program together,” Hamilton has been the guiding light for Berkeley High’s jazz ensemble for the last 25 years. 

During one of his practice sessions at Berkeley High for the Folsom festival, Hamilton spoke about his passion for music, his love for his native state of Louisiana and his desire to help students reach for the stars. 

“At Berkeley High, we do jazz differently,” Hamilton said smiling, sitting on a stool at the center of the music room with the BHS Jazz Ensemble. 

As a young boy in Baton Rouge, La., Hamilton grew up listening to different kinds of music. Jazz, the maestro said, was something he had picked up a lot later when he got hooked on artists such as Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock. 

Hamilton’s move to California was primarily to study music at San Francisco State University. He also received his Standard Teaching Credentials at SFSU and went on to achieve a Masters Degree in Performance at the College of Holy Names in Oakland.  

“Jazz was the kind of music that excited me. I was just as eager about it as my students are now,” Hamilton said, as he proceeded to take his students through a phrase from Duke Ellington’s “It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing.” 

“The thing that the Berkeley High ensemble does differently from other schools is that we swing and we are able to improvise,” he said. “Jazz is about improvising, about expressing ourselves. The kind of music we play is what makes us stand out.” 

When one of the band members makes a mistake, Hamilton is quick to offer more advice than criticism. 

“He doesn’t get frustrated. He lets us do a lot of things on our own,” said Arianna Kandell, a junior who is in her first year of training under Hamilton. “The Berkeley High Jazz Ensemble is his band. He made it what it is today. You can come here and be yourself and still go through a professional playing experience.” 

Also present during the late afternoon practice session was noted Bay Area drummer Scott Amendola. “He really listens to them,” Amendola said. “He knows how to work with kids.” 

Hamilton said: “I tell my students that the ability to read well, to improvise and knowledge of the instrument are what goes into making a great jazz player.” 

Under Hamilton’s watch, the jazz program has won national and international acclaim, sending many students on to become professional jazz musicians. The band has performed at prestigious venues such as the Vienna Jazz Festival in Southern France and the Umbria Jazz festival in Italy and will tour Japan this summer. 

At the practice session, as the band reached a crescendo during “Come Rain or Come Shine,” a quieter piece, Hamilton was quick to point out a flaw in what would perhaps sound like a perfect composition to the untrained ear. 

“You need to be more sensitive,” was the advice he bestowed on one of the trombone players. “If you don’t do that you can end up scaring the hell out of whoever’s listening instead of making them enjoy it. The objective of this piece is to be laid back,” Hamilton, a trombone player himself, warned. 

Hatem Elgaili, who plays the alto sax, told the Planet that it was Hamilton’s attention to subtle details that made the difference. 

“He has been doing this for 25 years, you see. The band trusts his judgment on the smallest things completely,” Elgaili said. “For us, it’s not just about winning competitions, it’s also about playing good music.”  

Photograph by Riya Bhattacharjee 

Berkeley High School Jazz Program Director Charles Hamilton gives alto saxophonist Hatem Elgaili a few pointers during a practice session for the Folsom Jazz Festival. BHS placed first and second in the Combo Division competition at the festival last week.