About a year ago, I put out an email to a few area teachers about hosting a jazz jam session for high school students. I knew I had a few kids at my school that were interested, but we didn’t know how many players from other schools would come. Much to my chagrin, we had almost twenty students come to the first meeting. I have really enjoyed watching young musicians step up to grow through jazz standards as we have arranged more of these sessions at other schools over the past year. It has evolved to where students from nine different area high schools have participated with help from local college students from UMKC, Northwest, and Mizzou. The next jam will be April 22nd at Staley High School.
Below are the packets I hand out to students. What were some of the first standards you liked playing in high school? (…besides Herbie Hancock’s “Chameleon”)
(Pictured: Jamming happening at Liberty North HS–Thanks, Dr. Doss for hosting!)
Joel Gordon 