Evan Cobb Jazz
Nashville Saxophonist and Oboist, Composer, Instructor

Our favorite musical art form, jazz, has a great history of jam sessions.  Traditionally, the language of jazz has been developed and passed down through generations of musicians aurally.  Jam sessions provide a chance for musicians of all ability levels to learn – musically, personally, and professionally.

Recently Nashville has lost many of the regular learning opportunities provided by jam sessions.  Despite having a large pool of fantastic jazz musicians, there are currently no regular jam sessions for them to listen, play, and network together.  In a city where the majority of professional musicians have their hands involved with dozens of recording and touring projects ranging the entire musical gamete, how can we ensure that the Nashville jazz scene receives the local and national attention that it deserves?   Where can students of one of Nashville’s many university music departments go to cut their teeth on a bandstand?

I would like to reintroduce you to two new regularly occurring jazz jam sessions in the heart of Nashville.  Beginning Wednesday February 10^th, Edgehill Studios Café will be hosting a monthly jazz jam session, and on Sunday March 21^st the Nashville Jazz Workshop will begin hosting a separate monthly jazz jam session.  A bit of information about each of the jam session’s goals:

The Edgehill Studios Café Jazz Jam Session, from 7 – 9:30, is designed for professionals and semi-professionals who need an outlet to play and try new tunes.  Musicians are both encouraged and expected to bring original music, arrangements, and transcriptions to try with the host band.  Just be sure to bring charts for each band member: tenor sax (or alto sax or flute), keys, bass, and drums.  Also make sure to put your name down on the sign-up sheet so that the band knows to call you up.  Again, the emphasis here will be on original music, arrangements, and underutilized jazz standards.

The Nashville Jazz Workshop Jazz Jam Session will take place from 4 – 6 on Sunday afternoons, and participation is designed for musicians of all ability levels.  Each month the Workshop will have a featured guest at the jazz jam session.  I’ll provide you with more details about this jam as the date approaches, but for now the focus of the workshop jazz jam will be to learn about playing, listening critically, and the process of jam sessions altogether.

There is one key rule for the Nashville Jazz Jam Sessions – “If you don’t KNOW the tune, don’t PLAY the tune.”  People participating are highly discouraged from using Real Books or other charts for standards they play with the host quartet (charts will be allowed for original tunes and arrangements).  Requesting to play a tune that usually swings in a “samba-fusion-country groove” is not considered an original arrangement.  All tunes chosen by participants must be learned by heart.  Please don’t be put off by this rule, it’s for the good of YOU the musician, as well as the host band and the listeners.

So, for those of you ever wondering any of the following…

- How will I ever get a band together to rehearse this new song of mine?

- When am I going to get a chance to try this Clifford Jordan tune?

- Where can I play a rhythm changes without first hearing Jamey Aebersold’s voice?

- Can I hold my own with professional players?

- How does a jazz jam session work?

- How can I invest in the success of jazz and in particular, new music in Nashville?

…Come out and attend one of Nashville’s regular jazz jam sessions!

Friends,

I hope that you’ll be able to join me for great fun this Thursday night at the 12 South Taproom.  Cobb’s Mob! will be performing an array of my material and a couple of standards.  I’ve also got a special surprise arrangement for those of you who watched cartoons in the late 1980’s.

So please come support – great music and it’s FREE!

Cobb’s Mob! 9 pm at the 12 South Taproom featuring:

Matthew White, trumpet

Adam Agati, guitar

Michael Rinne, bass

Bob Mater, drums

Hope to see you there.

-evan

I’m very pleased to announce the return of two separate but important jazz jam sessions here in Nashville.  Firstly, I’ve found a new home for the since defunct Cafe CoCo Jazz Jam Session.  Edgehill Studios Cafe has been kind enough to agree to host the jam on a trial basis.  Instead of Sunday afternoon, the jazz jam will take place on Wednesday evening.  The first session is scheduled for Wednesday, February 10th at 7pm.  If you’re one of the many folks who misses the weekly hang from CoCo, be sure to attend the jam at Edgehill.  The jam will be “on trial” for a regular spot in their lineup, so we’ll need your support!  Even if you didn’t attend the Cafe CoCo jam but are interested in having a viable jam session in downtown Nashville, then we need your support as well.

The jam at Edgehill Stuidos Cafe will be streamlined a bit from what you may remember of Sunday’s weekly jam, but I’ll spare you most of those details here.  All you need to know is that if you want to play, come on down with your axe and a tune that you know (no Realbooks!) and we’ll get you up to sit in with some of Music City’s top musicians.

I’m also pleased to announce that starting the third Sunday of March, we’ll be bringing back the Nashville Jazz Workshop’s monthly jam session hosted by yours truly.   This jam will feature a guest artist each month who besides playing, will talk constructively about their experiences with learning tunes and jam sessions in general.   Again we’ll encourage everyone to come with tunes prepared (no Realbooks!) but expect the atmosphere to be more of a clinic than your typical jam session at a bar.

So in short, if you’ve been looking for creative outlets to play or sing jazz in Nashville, rejoice.  We have some great opportunities lined up, now we just need your support!

See you on the bandstand.

-evan