Some years ago I took a jazz singing course at our local community college. The instructor, the wonderful big band leader Wally Trindade, said that to really test our chops, we had to go to the jam at Bocci’s. I can’t remember how awful my first attempt was, but I do remember noticing that I had found a community.
In 2019, with jams under my belt and a band of my own, I somehow ended up inheriting the Jazz Society of Santa Cruz County’s newsletter and becoming board secretary. It was sort of an accident, but it seemed fun.
Then came the pandemic.
Like most of us, I had to look for something to get me through, and keeping our little community alive was a worthy project. We took our jam online, which was really dreadful on a musical level, but helped nurture our little community. We kept our jams going, raised money for musicians who were out of work, and beefed up our educational lecture series.
Not being able to meet and make music in real time made it painfully obvious how important making music together is. Jazz is many things, but its core is interaction. There is probably nothing worse than listening to a band full of awesome jazz musicians who are all trying to prove they’re better than the last player. You can hear it. If the musicians don’t listen to each other and respond generously, it doesn’t matter how many notes they can cram into a measure, or how perfect their tone is.
Without community and real human interaction, jazz as a music loses its soul. The essence of what the Jazz Society does is to nurture a local community that has been going strong for generations.
I asked my co-host Christine Barrington to host this chat and I was so grateful that she put such thought and care into her questions. Even if you don’t live anywhere near Santa Cruz, I think you’ll be impressed with what we’ve built and nurtured here. Listen in!
For more information:
- The Jazz Society of Santa Cruz County
- Ken Koenig’s “Santa Cruz Swings” full-length documentary
- “Jazz for Everybody” Master Classes
- Online interviews with local musicians
- The Weekly Jazz Society Newsletter
- Check out KSQD’s Jazz Programs
My other pieces about jazz: