Jazz with High Purpose

Friday, December 23, 2005; The Bergen Record

By BRIAN ABERBACK

As a performer, educator and businesswoman, Lauren Hooker uses music to make a positive impact on people's lives.

"Every artist has the potential of being a healer," said Hooker, a Teaneck resident. "[Music] is not just sound to fill space. It can be a sound that can transform you."

Hooker, a jazz singer and pianist, performs tonight at Lounge Zen in Teaneck. She also teaches privately and at a

Manhattan school, and runs a company that produces multicultural theater and music programs for children.

Hooker grew up in a musical family in Plainfield, taking on the piano at age 4. Her father, Louis Hooker, was a high school music teacher and choral director who founded the New Jersey Schola Cantorum.

Hooker began focusing on jazz in college. She said she loves the genre's improvisational nature, which lets musicians put their own stamp on the music, from lyrical and melodic phrasing to rhythmic variations.

"Jazz gives you the opportunity to express your individuality," Hooker said. "You have the opportunity to phrase things in the way that you feel."

Hooker, accompanied by pianist and fellow Teaneck resident Allen Farnham, plans to perform a mix of tunes tonight, some of which feature her lyrics and arrangements. The set will include works by Thelonious Monk, Cole Porter and Duke Ellington, among others, and some jazzed-up holiday songs. When she's not busy performing or teaching, Hooker devotes her time to Musical Legends, the company she founded 12 years ago to introduce children to the songs, dances and languages of various cultures.

The company's interactive shows have been produced in area schools, libraries and museums. Hooker plays a number of instruments in the shows, including the African djembe drum and the Native American wooden flute.

"The goal is to expose [kids] to different cultures and create an understanding and a joy in the music," she said. "If people understand what's going on they can become more involved in it."

Hooker recently found more time to concentrate on performing and her business when the Teaneck Cultural Arts Coalition disbanded.

Hooker co-founded the non-profit organization in 1997. The coalition produced concerts and arts festivals and staged Teaneck's yearly First Night Celebration.

The alliance dissolved in September because of a shrinking budget and volunteer pool.

"People had to leave, as they do in all non-profit organizations, for various reasons and other commitments," Hooker said.

Starting the coalition was a natural step for Hooker, who moved to Teaneck 13 years ago, in part because of the township's diversity and rich array of artists and musicians.

"Seventy percent of the [coalition] membership was from Teaneck, and probably about 60 percent were some kind of visual, performing or literary artist," Hooker said. "We have a high echelon of artists and performers here. It's just amazing."