JAM Goes Back to School
“JAM Goes Back to School” has recently completed its seventh year of performing for the children of Bibb County. The children’s ages have ranged from four to seventeen years of age. “JAM Goes Back to School” is an educational jazz performance carried out by local musicians. The name of the group that performs is the JAM Ensemble.
The performance ranges from 45 min. to an hour-long program. The group starts off with a ten to twenty minute discussion of the history of jazz intermingled with the ensemble playing a song from the different styles discussed, from spirituals to ragtime and from blues to Dixieland. Then it is explained and demonstrated that an ensemble consists of a rhythm section and a horn line. The differences of a melody line and improvisation are discussed and demonstrated.
The ensemble usually starts out with Charlie Parker’s Now’s The Time, as well as playing Take the A Train, Blue Bossa, All Blues, and one of their favorites is the Spiderman Theme. The young people are exposed to vocal jazz and the concept of scat singing. The students are encouraged to scat sing during the performance and some of them are naturals when it comes to scat singing. The teachers are encouraged to jump in and help with the program by singing as well. At some schools, even the principals will sit in with the band and sing. As you can imagine, the children get very enthusiastic when their peers and especially their teachers sing.
The ensemble exposes the students to different styles of rhythms consisting of straight ahead, Latin, swing, blues, funk, bossa nova, and contemporary to name a few. During the middle of the program the musicians take a pause for a question and answer period, which the students enjoy and ask very good questions. The main purpose of the program is to spur an interest in music and enlighten and educate about Jazz.
The ensemble has also performed for the Older Americans Council’s Senior Day in the Park, Southwest High School Jazz and Art Festival, The International Cherry Blossom Festival, The Children’s Miracle Network, Peake Health Care Center and The Macon Music Teachers’ Association Blues & Jazz Workshop.
The musicians of the JAM Ensemble consist of five to seven players. The players vary from a pool of local musicians and the majority of musicians that perform either graduated from or taught for the Bibb County Public School system. The students are exposed to the electric and upright bass, piano or keyboards, drums or trap set, electric guitar, soprano, alto and tenor saxophone, clarinet, and trumpet, cornet and flugelhorn.
If you'd like the JAM Ensemble to play for your school or community event, contact Dr. Edward Clark at clark.edward@mccg.org.