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A Teaching Career On A Grand Scale

Tribune photo by GREG FIGHT

James Crumbly checks the score during a rehearsal of the musical "Grease" at the Patel Conservatory at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, where he is artist in residence and the lead music teacher.

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By D'ANN LAWRENCE WHITE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 13, 2008

TAMPA - Whenever he hears about budget cuts in music education, James Crumbly gets a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach.

For him, life without music would be unfathomable.

"Just take away music for one day and see what life would be like," Crumbly said. "No singing, no radios, no instruments, no background music. I think the world would realize what an important role music plays in our lives. It's not just entertainment. It's an expression. It's essential."

Crumbly said music has helped define who he is. He's a musician, composer, lyricist, arranger, producer and music educator.

He's also a single father of five children ages 14 to 24 and grandfather of one, all of whom live with him at his Riverview home. And he holds positions as chairman of the music department at Middleton High School in East Tampa and as an instructor at the Patel Conservatory at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center.

Crumbly figures that treble and bass clefs are imprinted on his DNA.

"My dad played boogie-woogie music, and my mom and her four sisters had their own gospel-singing group and traveled all around the country," said the Toledo, Ohio, native. "Both of my parents came from families with 13 children, so I grew up with lots of cousins, all of them musical, and we'd all sing and perform when we got together."

As a youngster, Crumbly would hear a catchy tune on a television commercial, walk over to a piano and play the jingle by ear. When he and his cousins began taking formal piano lessons, he would listen to the songs his cousins played during their lessons and then imitate them, rather than learn to read the music.

"I'd use my ear to cheat because I didn't want to learn to read music," he recalled.

That changed when he got into high school and encountered Florence Wagner, the best and toughest piano teacher Crumbly ever had.

"She was difficult, but she had a way of teaching that I'll never forget," he said. "We'd spend two months on one page."

Chorus and orchestra teacher Gilbert Porsche saw potential in the teenage James Crumbly that he couldn't see in himself.

"He basically forced me to play the most difficult accompaniments for the choir," Crumbly said.

He credits Porsche with being responsible for his acceptance into the prestigious Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y., one of the top music education schools in the country.

From the outset, Crumbly knew he wanted to focus on music education.

"Everyone saw a nurturing spirit in me and, frankly, I didn't want to have to practice 10 hours a day to perform," he said. "I don't want performing to be my full-time gig. I want sharing music to be my full-time gig."

And that's just what he's been doing for more than 30 years.

After earning his bachelor's and master's degrees in music education from Eastman, he taught jazz studies at the University of Toledo, Central State University and Anderson University, all in Ohio, then relocated to Florida at the urging of two brothers who lived here.

"I remember my first weekend here I saw the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, and I told myself that I'm going to work there one day," Crumbly said.

A year later, on Dec. 4, 2004, the 45,000-square-foot Dr. Pallavi Patel Performing Arts Conservatory opened at the performing arts center, and artist-in-residence Fred Johnson recruited Crumbly to teach group piano, jazz ensemble and vocal ensemble. He also was tapped to serve as the music director and arranger for the Youth Theater Company and perform with guest artists at the center.

"I'll never forget, one of my first performances was opening for Aretha Franklin," Crumbly said. "That was a big thrill."

Another was the opportunity to perform with the Eastman Jazz Ensemble during the All-Star Jazz Jam at the center in 2006.

The position with the youth theater also gave him the opportunity to compose original music for productions.

"It kindled a gift I didn't even know I had," Crumbly said.

In between duties at the center, Crumbly teaches for the Hillsborough County School District. He previously taught music theory, show choir and recording studio arts at Blake High School and now teaches chorus and orchestra at Middleton.

"Teaching kids - that's my real love," he said. "I believe everyone has genius locked inside them. They just need a little bit of guidance on how to unlock the door and let it out. And it's not just about music. Building character is much more important than the music."

Helping unlock those doors is all the reward he needs.

"There's nothing like the feeling of getting an e-mail from a former student telling you what a difference you made in his life or seeing the look on a kid's face when he's inspired by something you've taught him," he said.

He carries that inspiration home with him, where music is a central feature in the close-knit Crumbly household.

His 24-year-old son, Brandon Crumbly, is also known as iLL FlaVa, a member of the Southern hip-hop duo Kumi Hues. The pair recently were voted among the top 100 new artists in the country and just released their debut album, "The Take-Off 747-365."

Brandon Crumbly, who plays piano and drums, also has collaborated with funk artist George Clinton.

James Crumbly's youngest son just graduated from Blake High as a keyboard major, one daughter plays violin, another dances and another sings.

"They all have gifts," he said.

This is the year Crumbly plans to fulfill a longtime dream, releasing an album he has been working on for a decade.

"I made myself a promise to do it this year," he said. "It's eclectic. There's a lot of jazz, some R&B, gospel, of course, some classical elements, a compilation of everything I am musically."

It will include original music and lyrics, as well as re-arrangements of favorites - including an old-time hymn "Great Is Thy Faithfulness," to be sung by soprano Maria Zouves of the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center opera company.

Crumbly welcomes music lovers of all levels to his classes at Patel. Students in his adult group voice class range from having no experience since high school to preparing songs for performance gigs.

Crumbly created the jazz ensemble class for musicians in grades seven to 12 who want to focus on jazz improvisation and ensemble playing. A number of his students have gone on to study music in college. Crumbly also teaches group piano classes.

For information about classes, call (813) 222-1002 or go to patelconservatory.org.

Keyword: Music Teacher, to view an audio slide show about James Crumbly. To hear a performance arranged by James Crumbly and sung by soprano Maria Zouves of the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center opera company, use Keyword: James Crumbly. Reporter D'Ann Law

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