Marlow Jazz Club - Jazz Jam

TICKETS £10. Visit:
www.marlowjazzclub.com/jazz-jam
Email: mjcjazzjam@gmail.com

How would you like the chance to play in ...

• A private jazz jam with a full band of like-minded people and no audience?
• A limited number of musicians to enable you to have more playing time?
• A small number of tunes to work on enabling proper group feedback and the opportunity to play the material a number of times?
• Occasional professional support and feedback?

Marlow Jazz Club runs a regular private Jazz Jam Session on the first Tuesday of the month, open to all levels of musician who would like to practice and improve their jazz improvisational skills. This is a chance to play with with other like-minded musicians, in a friendly and relaxed environment with no audience.

Who’s it for?
The sessions are primarily aimed at beginners with some experience, and up to intermediate players, to learn and build up a repertoire of jazz standards. Ideally you would have practised following the forms (chord progressions) of jazz tunes, maybe on your own at home, and would like to build up your playing experience and practice performing with other musicians.

How does it work?
A number of jazz tunes or “standards” are selected in advance, before each session, to allow participants to familiarise themselves with the music before attending. This makes the whole experience a lot less daunting than just turning up at “open jam sessions” where often songs are picked ad-hoc on the night.

We aim to limit the numbers to around 10 musicians in order to keep the group to a manageable size and allow plenty of playing by everyone. There is a £10 fee to attend, which we ask to be paid in advance. This covers the cost of room hire, administration and professional tuition which we will bring in from time to time.

We aim to put together a group something like this:

1 x drums
1 x bass
1 x keyboards
2 x guitar
5 x frontline instruments (e.g. saxophone, trumpet, trombone, etc.)

The sessions involve spending about 30mins on each tune, aiming for three tunes each session. The structure and chord progression of each tune generally follows the iReal Pro App format. A link to a folder with the sheet music will be made available for each session containing the lead sheets for concert pitch, Bb and Eb instruments.

When and where is it?
The first session is on Tuesday 4th February 2025 and will be held at West Star Studios in High Wycombe, to run between 7pm and 10pm. This provides about 2.5 hours of playing with a half-hour break in the middle.

How do I prepare?
Ideally you would have practised following the forms (chord progressions) of jazz tunes, maybe on your own at home, using “Real Books” or the iReal Pro App.

Look at the tunes published for the practice session you are attending and practice playing the head or main tune (especially if you are a lead instrument) and improvising over a number of choruses. Keep it simple if you are new to improvising and don’t worry about making mistakes at the session!
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Bass players should ideally be able to play a walking bass line on swing tunes and simple bossa lines for bossa novas.

Playing the head is generally the responsibility of the lead instruments or horn players (eg, saxophone, trumpet, trombone) and can often be shared between these players, depending on what suits the tune best. This sort of thing can be discussed and experimented with at the sessions.

Equipment
West Star Studios has a drum kit, Bass Amp+Cab, Guitar Amp+Cab and PA system with mics.
Drummers should bring their own Snare Drum and Cymbals or can hire them for £5.
Keyboard Players should ideally bring their own keyboard or we can provide one if necessary.

Location
The first session on Tuesday 4th February will be held at West Star Rehearsal Studios in High Wycombe. Address is:
​West Star Rehearsal Studios, 461 London Road, Unit 20, High Wycombe,
HP11 1EL

February's tunes:

• Blue Monk in concert Bb (12 bar blues to get us warmed up)
• Blue Bossa in concert Cm (well known bossa)
• Mack The Knife in concert Bb (Familiar "Swing" tune)
• Reserve tune: Watermelon Man in concert F (in case we need it)

A folder will be emailed to you with the lead sheets and reference recordings when you have booked your place!

PLEASE NOTE: RSVPs (ATTEND BUTTON) ARE NOT OPEN FOR THIS EVENT. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN ATTENDING, PLEASE CONTACT ANDY via Email, stating what instrument you play: [mjcjazzjam@gmail.com](mailto:mjcjazzjam@gmail.com)