Vando Jam Hits Chicago

By I Apr. 10, 2006

In an attempt to rekindle the traditional jam session, Vandoren and HotHouse conducted the first Vando Jam in Chicago on March 28. The format started in Paris in 2004 and now plays to a monthly packed house at the Sunset Jazz club on Rue de Lombard. It was imported to the United States and runs the second Monday of every month at the historic Knitting Factory in New York.

The Vando Jam will occur the last Tuesday of every month at HotHouse.

“This is a good old fashioned jam session,” said Vandoren artist consultant Steve Baughman. “It’s free to anyone who wants to sit in or even just to come and listen. You just bring your horn, call a tune and go. We know there are jam sessions here and there, but what we’re trying to establish is a new jazz community that encompasses the entire city of Chicago, North Side and South Side. We want professionals to be there to play with novices; we want the rich heritage of the historic Chicago jazz scene and to reestablish it as the jazz Mecca.”

A classic example of this fusion of all of Chicago is evidenced in the leaders of the jam session—Ernest Dawkins and Mark Colby. Dawkins is one of Chicago’s premier jazz saxophonists whose music reflects his extraordinary talent, not just as a musician but as a composer as well. He has recorded numerous CDs and is the founder and leader of his own group, New Horizons Ensemble. The former Chairman of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, Dawkins takes the time to share his musical genius and knowledge with Chicago’s youth.

Colby has performed with Gerry Mulligan, Jaco Pastorius, Frank Sinatra, Maynard Ferguson, Bob James, Charlie Haden and Mose Allison. He is a first call studio musician and has played on more than 2,000 commercials. He has been a jazz faculty member at DePaul University since 1983, as well as Elmhurst College.

There is no admission charge to the Vando Jam. HotHouse is located at 33 W. Balbo, between Wabash and State Street. For more information on the Vando Jam go to www.hothouse.net, or www.dansr.com.