Fred Irby Took Jazz to New Heights at Howard University

With April as Jazz Appreciation Month in the backdrop of the celebration, music professor Fred Irby III was celebrated for 51 years as the driving force behind the Howard University Jazz Ensemble (HUJE)

Former students, colleagues, and jazz lovers gathered at the Howard University Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts on April 17 to wish Irby a happy retirement. 

Under Irby’s leadership, HUJE is one of the most successful and admired college jazz bands. In his role as professor of music at Howard University, Irby is the founder and director of HUJE, the coordinator of instrumental music, and trumpet instructor. He has also been Principal Trumpet since 1975 for the Kennedy Center Musical Theater Orchestra.

When Irby arrived at the university in 1974, the Howard music program did not have a concert or jazz band. The first step he needed to tackle was obtaining accreditation for Howard University’s music program from the National Association of Schools of Music.

“The kids have to play in a band. If you play, it’ll be the greatest thing,” said Irby from his memorabilia-filled office on the lower level of the Boseman building.

Students taught by Irby are exposed to all aspects of being a musician.

He brought in guest musicians to play with the HUJE, which helped build confidence as students worked toward the next level in their performance skills.

Musicians who have performed with the students include trumpeters Derek Gardner and Sean Jones, saxophonists Paul Carr, Tia Fuller, and Jimmy Green, and pianists Allyn Johnson, Orrin Evans, Marc Cary, and Charles Covington.

There have been nearly 50 HUJE albums and CDs produced with Irby during his tenure. He has exposed his jazz ensemble students to the rigors of touring concerts in China, Japan, Romania, Colombia, Senegal, Venezuela, Haiti, Trinidad, Jamaica, Martinique, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and numerous U.S. cities.

Ensuring that jazz musicians and supporters are recognized for their work, Irby created the Benny Golson Jazz Master Award. Golson, a saxophonist and Howard University alumnus, was also a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master.

More than 90 individuals and organizations have received the Golson honor since its inception in 1996 and have relished in getting the award and engaging with Irby and his students all at once.

“Benny Golson was a special person in our lives,” said Louis Hayes, after receiving the 2024 Golson Award. “For me, the whole thing was to be here in this environment to receive this award. To have this opportunity at Howard University to meet all of these young people on this level, is something I will never forget.”

More Than Five Decades of Teaching: Former Student Reflects on Irby’s Influence

Paul Bailey, a Howard University master’s degree graduate and former member of HUJE, says he remembers the first time he met Irby.

“I was in the 11th grade trying to figure out where I would go to for my undergraduate degree,” said Bailey, a sax player and announcer on WPFW-FM in D.C. “On the wall were pictures of Professor Irby with Cuban trumpeter Arturo Sandoval and Quincy Jones. Then I saw a picture with drummer Art Blakey and another picture with Harry ‘Sweets’ Edison.”

To say Bailey was impressed would be an understatement. He returned to Howard to pursue his master’s degree in music and learned that the legendary professor is clear on what he expects from his students.

One crucial skill the students learn is sight-reading music, which is reading music without prior rehearsal.

After 51 years of teaching, Bailey said Irby leaves a major legacy.

“His students tell the story about Professor Fred Irby,” Bailey told The Informer.

In a special edition of “Jazz Times” magazine honoring Irby, the professor emphasized the most significant part of his more than five decades in education.

“It’s been a privilege to collaborate with so many talented young musicians, composers, arrangers, and scholars who were just as dedicated to the preservation of this art form, jazz.”