Typically, the word “jazz” evokes images of dark, swanky night clubs circa 1920, filled with rebellious 20-somethings and soulful musicians. On March 9, Boston University’s second monthly Jazz Jam Session was missing that atmosphere, but had plenty of soul.
The jam session was held in the BU Band practice room, a large, well lit, warehouse-like venue with high ceilings and a garage door. Marching band uniforms lined the shelves and percussion paraphernalia was scattered everywhere. It certainly lacked atmosphere, but the musicians made up for that when their rag time riffs and syncopated solos took the audience right back to that 1920s night club.
This all-ages event encouraged musicians to walk in, sign up and jump on stage. Collin Sapp, the organizer of the event and Jazz Workshop director, called up random people from the signup sheet, whowould then collaborate with musicians they may have never played with before. Despite the spontaneity, the combos performed flawlessly, as if they had practiced for months.
Like the event, the audience remained fairly informal. Spontaneous clapping erupted mid-song and conversations were held over the performances, however it never seemed rude. The laid-back attitude created a very welcoming environment, even if you are not a musician or jazz enthusiast.
Sapp thought up this event with intentions to jumpstart the jazz community on BU’s campus. “I wanted there to be more jazz here!” Sapp said. “[The community] was really kind of divided. I wanted to create more of a community.” Sapp explained that BU jazz musicians had few outlets on campus, and usually only got to hear one another play at JazzFest, an annual event held at BU Central.
Sapp, a Berklee graduate, is working on renovating jazz at BU with jazz guitar labs, workshops, classes and the Jam Sessions. He hopes to hold one jam session per month, with the exception of May when JazzFest is scheduled.
For now, the Jam Sessions will be held in the practice room, but Sapp hopes to graduate to more popular (and atmospheric) venues, such as BU Central, soon.
