Marsalis Music Pairs With Berklee for Jam Sessions

By I Mar. 18, 2008

The Marsalis Music record label, founded by Branford Marsalis, has joined forces with Berklee College of Music to bring Marsalis Jams to Cafe 939, Berklee’s student-run music venue and coffee house. The program, a combination of concert performance, jam session and classroom interaction will be presented periodically during the college’s academic semesters as Marsalis Berklee Jams. Launching the initiative will be the quartet of Berklee alumnus and Marsalis Music artist Miguel Zenón on April 2–3. These will be the initial concerts in the Cafe 939 space.

The Miguel Zenón Quartet will launch Marsalis Berklee Jams with two public events featuring brief sets by the quartet that will segue into jam sessions. Participation in the jam sessions will be open to all Berklee students. During the day, the quartet will present two master classes open to Berklee students only.

“This is 180 degrees from the typical jazz residency,” said Marsalis Music Creative Consultant and Marsalis Jams Director Bob Blumenthal. “Instead of having established individual musicians perform with student ensembles, Marsalis Berklee Jams allows music students to perform with and learn from working bands.

Marsalis Jams was conceived by Branford Marsalis as an initiative to provide meaningful interaction between established musical ensembles and dedicated student musicians at the high school and college levels. These consist of mini-residencies that include classroom interaction and culminate in performance/jam sessions in which the visiting band follows an opening set of its own music by inviting student musicians on stage to play.

More info: ciaboston.org