At the end of the week, the sounds of saxophones, trombones, basses, drums, and piano fill the halls of the music department. But they are not emanating from a class or a performance rehearsal. Instead, they are coming from jazz jams.
Every Friday from noon to 2 p.m. in Phillips B-120, the GW music department sponsors a weekly gathering of students and faculty who come together to crank out their latest tunes. The performances have garnered a regular following, with usually 20 to 30 music enthusiasts sitting in each week.
Professor Jim Levy, who styles himself as the “architect” behind the sessions, said he started them in 1986 as a teaching tool. Offering students back then a “chance to get their musical feet wet,” today jazz jams serve much of the same purpose by giving budding musicians a chance to showcase their talents in a friendly arena.
The groups mostly play mainstream jazz with acoustic bass and piano. Levy, who plays the piano in the faculty septet that performs at the beginning of each performance, cited Duke Ellington’s music as a critical inspiration behind the jam sessions.
“[Ellington is the] cornerstone of what we play and our most popular composer,” Levy said.
But beyond Ellington, the entire gamut of the jazz school colors the sessions, something Levy said has implications beyond the rhythms and melodies it offers to bystander listeners.
“Jazz is a great music for so many reasons. It exemplifies the ideals of our country,” said Levy, referring to how the genre, with its European and African roots, fostered the first relationships between black and white musicians in the 1940s.
The jam sessions Levy offers are by no means confined to a basement in an academic building, either. Though many may not be aware of it, D.C. has a very active jazz scene. U Street is a popular area for so-called authentic jazz, and there are numerous clubs in Old Town Alexandria and Georgetown that cater to similar tastes as well.
But jazz jams retain a fundamental purpose in allowing students new to the scene to get started. Levy said GW alumna Angela Aki is now a singer-songwriter with a record contract with Sony Music Japan, and recently sang the theme song for the popular videogame Final Fantasy XII. Jukebox the Ghost, an up-and-coming three-piece rock band made up of three GW alumni who met in 2003, is now on tour with Ben Folds and used to play at jazz jams as well, Levy said.
Even those with a limited or nonexistent music background can appreciate these sessions. While students are constantly bombarded with concerts from the “hot” band of the day and the likes of Flavor Flav and Public Enemy riding through campus, jazz jams offer a refreshing return to the classics.
