Morris Eugene Hall M.E. "Gene" Hall (1913–1993) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

educator at the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public university, public research university located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its main campus is in Denton, Texas, Denton, with a satellite campus in Frisco, Texas, Frisco. It serves as the ...

. Hall was the founding director of the One O'Clock Lab Band, and responsible for the first university curriculum for the study of Jazz (called "Dance Music" at the time) in the United States.

Early life and education

Hall grew up in

Whitewright, Texas Whitewright is a town in Fannin and Grayson Counties in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 1,725 at the 2020 census, up from 1,604 at the 2010 census. The Grayson County portion of Whitewright is part of the Sherman– Deniso ...

learning the

C melody saxophone The C melody saxophone, also known as the C tenor saxophone, is a saxophone pitched in the key of C one whole tone above the common B-flat tenor saxophone. The C melody was part of the series of saxophones pitched in C and F intended by the in ...

and

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgians, Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in the key of E♭ ( ...

. Hall first arrived in

Denton, Texas Denton is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Denton County, Texas, Denton County. With a population of 139,869 as of 2020, it is the List of cities in Texas by population, 20th-most populous city in Texas, the List of Un ...

in 1934, in the midst of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, with the intent of attending college at the

, then known as North Texas State Teacher's College. Unable to pay the $32 for tuition, he made up the deficit by painting the interior of the university President's House. When he initially enrolled at UNT, he was part of band that failed to find new work in Denton, and later disbanded, leaving Hall to later join another college band at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

, that got stuck in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

after being unable to afford airline tickets back home. His master's thesis illustrated the curriculum for a formal class in Jazz education.

Career

One O'Clock Lab Band

Hall served as the band's director from 1947 to 1959. Originally called the Laboratory Dance Band, the band was established with the purpose of experimenting with different band configurations, and giving students in the newly established "Dance Band" degree a place to put their studies to practice. After starting the band program in 1947, Hall struggled to get the band off the ground because of a lack of music to perform; stating in an interview for the University of North Texas Music Library: "When this program started in 1947, we had eight special

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

s, and sixty stock arrangements... 'bet you can imagine how that sounded."

Educator

After Hall left as director of the Lab Band in 1959, he continued being a Jazz educator at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

College of the Desert College of the Desert (COD) is a public community college in Palm Desert, California. COD enrolls about 12,500 students, of which around one third attend college full-time. It serves the Coachella Valley of Riverside County. The college is feder ...

, and

Stephen F. Austin State University Stephen F. Austin State University (SFASU or SFA) is a public university in Nacogdoches, Texas, in the United States. Named after Stephen F. Austin, one of the founders of Texas, SFA was founded as a teachers college in 1923 and built on part ...

. He later served as the first president of the National Association of Jazz Educators, and was inducted into their hall of fame in 1981.

References

External links

The Development of a Curriculum for the Teaching of Dance Music at a College Level

Gene Hall – Sherman Jazz Museum

Hall, Morris Eugene – Texas State Historical Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Gene American jazz alto saxophonists Jazz educators 1913 births 1993 deaths University of North Texas College of Music faculty New York University alumni Michigan State University faculty Stephen F. Austin State University faculty University of North Texas alumni