This post is written about jam sessions in general and specifically the new jam session I am hosting which started last month at Hat City Kitchen in Orange, NJ from 8:00pm until 11:45 every Wednesday evening. I’m excited at the prospect of this session which has been extremely well attended and had very high caliber players at each of our first three gigs.
I know musicians who won’t play jam sessions. They’ve had it with the mediocrity, they don’t like the competitive nature, they think that everyone plays too long and they always play the same tunes…. But I love jam sessions. I think they are an important part of the jazz scene. They are an important part of a jazz musician’s development. They help keep us focused and flexible. Learning how to sound good with pick up rhythm sections is a craft unto itself. I like learning new tunes on the fly, or making note of tunes I’ve never heard and need to learn. Most of all I love the sense of community built through beauty of the music, the common goal of mastery of an art form, and a shared stage for all to express themselves.
Let me define terms for those unfamiliar with jam sessions:
A “jam session” is an event at which musicians gather without rehearsal and play standard repertoire with each musician playing solos which are improvised. It is one of the defining hallmarks of jazz that musicians who don’t even need to speak the same language can play complex music together for hours on end. Other forms of music have similar jamming capabilities, but rarely with the same virtuosity and harmonic sophistication that can be exhibited in jam sessions by jazz musicians. Jam sessions occur privately in musician’s basements, living rooms, and rehearsal spaces with great regularity. Jam sessions can also be “public” sessions held at music venues where a house band and leader facilitate an evening explicitly designed for jamming. The Hat City Jazz Jam is a public jam session.
The “house band” is the hired band that is tasked with setting the mood for the session. They usually play a couple of tunes or a short set before guest musicians start “sitting in” with the band. They usually reconvene at various points during the evening to keep the momentum going. The “leader” is the musician with the microphone who manages the flow of the evening. There are many different ways in which a session can be managed. Some sessions have “the list” upon which musicians must put their name and instrument and are called up in the order they sign in. Some are managed more casually and some are left up to the musicians in attendance to manage themselves.
There are many reasons to attend a jam session. Listeners often enjoy watching different folks from young people through seasoned veterans endeavoring to make music together. They like a good cutting contest, or seeing a young musician shine along side seasoned veterans. Student musicians often come to hear the pros, get a chance to play with them, learn new tunes, and learn the conventions of form: introductions, middle and endings. Emerging artists want to challenge themselves, meet new musicians, get on the scene. Established musicians want to network, stay in shape and hopefully everyone wants to have fun.
My job as the leader of the Hat City Kitchen Jazz Jam is to facilitate community building. I want the evening to represent a high quality of music, to be successful from a business standpoint, and to allow listeners, students, and veteran musicians alike to feel engaged, fulfilled, and hopefully, joyful. This is joyful music and when the jazz community comes together in an inclusive and challenging atmosphere, we have a great joy.
One of the best regular jam sessions I ever attended was the session held at Cecil’s Jazz Club in West Orange, NJ on Tuesday nights. Hosted by the great saxophonist, Bruce Williams, it had an integrity to it that many of the sessions in New York these days lack. Often sessions are run by bands so young, we often wonder how the art is going to be passed on. I met Bruce at his session 8 years ago and we became friends quickly and I attended as often as I could, eventually subbing for him as the host on occasion. After Cecil’s closed, Dave Stryker approached me about starting a new session close by. We are hoping to capture the sincerity and quality that session exhibited in our own way.
The amount of advanced young musicians in the area right now is at a critical high. I’ve been so lucky to have played a part in the development of so many great young musicians, including my two sons and all the great young musicians who participate in the Jazz House Kids ensembles and classes that we’ve established over the past three years. During our first three weeks, the stage of the new Hat City Jazz Jam has been so full of brilliant young players that the result is truly astounding. People who have not been following the growth of Jazz House are floored as one teen age musician after another takes the stage and exhibits hints of mastery of much older musicians. I truly feel that this may be regarded as a legendary hub of musical development when these musicians reach maturity.
Please stop out this Wednesday, April 4th for the latest Jam. From 8:00 – Midnight. Hat City Kitchen 459 Valley Street, Orange, NJ 07050
(862) 252-9147
We had a couple of great gig’s with the 
Every Monday night I have the extraordinary pleasure of performing with the Cecil’s Jazz Orchestra at Cecil’s Jazz Club in West Orange, New Jersey. They even let me lead the band! My path to Big Band leadership was definitely a circuitous one. 
