Logan, founder of Oberlin’s jazz studies dept, dies at 69

FAMU alumnus Wendell Logan, who built the Oberlin Conservatory of Music's jazz studies program from the ground up died on June 15, 2010, in Cleveland, OH. He was 69 years old. Logan who went to Oberlin in 1973 has been credited with making the program one of the most respected jazz studies programs in the United States.

At the time of his death, Logan was Professor of African American Music and Chair of Oberlin’s Jazz Studies Department. An exponent of both jazz and art music, he was an important compositional presence within his musical generation. Throughout his distinguished career as composer, performer, and educator, he received numerous commissions and won many awards, including four from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Lakond Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a dozen or so ASCAP awards, three Ohio Arts Council grants, and, in 1991, the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship and the Cleveland Arts Prize in Music.

"This is a tremendous loss to our community and the world of music,” said Dean of the Conservatory David H. Stull. “Wendell Logan’s profound impact on our lives, and his work as an artist and teacher, will continue to influence generations of young musicians. He leaves a legacy of courage, accomplishment, artistry, and humanity that will be a permanent inspiration for us all.”

When asked for the three words that best described him, Logan himself replied: “Fair, honest, compassionate.” He also revealed what inspired him to become a musician, and what kept him inspired on discouraging days:

“The spirits came and got me. On discouraging days I know that things will always be better. Bettah Days are Comin,’ as the spiritual goes.”

He was born in Thomson, Georgia and first studied music with his father, a professional musician. He was exposed to the Southern cultural milieu of spirituals, the blues, jazz, and gospel music. He also heard performances by touring musicians and groups such as James Brown, “Fats” Domino, and “Little Richard” Penniman. As a boy, he enjoyed playing with Tinker Toys and Erector Sets, which fueled his interest in “putting pieces together,” as he says. Later encouraged by his music theory teacher, Mrs. Johnnie Lee, he finally chose composition as his musical path.

In his second year of studies at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1962, Logan heard Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite and was exposed to 12-tone music for the first time. Realizing the exquisite craftsmanship behind Firebird, he then earnestly committed to becoming a composer. In pursuit of this goal, he studied with Olly Wilson and Johnnie V. Lee at Florida A&M, and then began graduate work in composition at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, where he studied with Will Gay Bottje.

Logan earned a Master of Music degree from the Southern Illinois in 1964, all the while playing the trumpet with jazz groups and concert bands and arranging music for both. He later completed his Ph.D. at the University of Iowa in 1968.

Prior to teaching composition, African American music, and jazz ensemble at Oberlin, Logan served on the faculties of Florida A&M University, Ball State University (Muncie, Indiana), and Western Illinois University (Macomb).

His wife, Bettye Logan, with whom he celebrated 48 years of marriage on May 26, survives him, along with two children, four grandchildren, and two brothers.