JAM: December 2006 / January 2007 Issue: Feature Story

Bobby Watson Speaks on the Importance of Jamming

There is much formal jazz education in Kansas City, from programs for pre-schoolers to Master Classes at UMKC. But for jazz students, one of the keys to developing the craft is as old as the music itself—seeking out and participating in jam sessions.

Jam sessions take many forms. It might be an informal get-together in someone’s living room or an empty music room at school. They can also be regular events at establishments like the Blue Room, Y.J.’s Snack Shack, the Mutual Musicians Foundation, or Mike’s Tavern on Troost, where UMKC students hold court every Thursday evening.

“It takes us a few weeks to get the student combos settled at UMKC,” says UMKC jazz professor Bobby Watson. “We try to group the students so that the combos are balanced. Some kids are deliberately put in situations where they are over their heads at first. They meet at a designated time two times a week. They develop a rapport among themselves.

“One of the reasons that we make these scheduled jam sessions at Mike’s a part of our program is that students that didn’t think they could play with each other find out that they can. They get to play with people they don’t get to play with during
the day. It’s also different from playing in the combos at school because at school the adrenaline really isn’t there. It’s different when you play in front of people. There’s a regular crowd that comes to Mike’s. For the students, it’s sort of a trial by fire, because they call a song; if they know it they play it, if they don’t they sit down. It also emphasizes what the art form is about, trial and error. Experimentation, trial and error, just like scientists. Scientists try things a number of times, and fail until they perfect something. We do the same, but when you say ‘trial and error,’ that’s scary. It’s hard to believe that you pay your money to go to an institution for somebody to tell you that. They expect you to
say, ‘If you do this, this will happen, and you’ll be successful.’ But say ‘trial and error,’ they say, no! what?

“I’ve seen a lot of kids come out of their shell at these jam sessions. I’m thinking of changing it to Jazz Lab. That’s really what it is. “I try to be there every Thursday and give comments and encouragement, like you’d do with a fighter between rounds. That kind of coaching. It’s really fun for me, to watch them get up, people who are normally shy.

“It’s another world when you’re on stage like that. And you have to accept your mistakes. And learn how to cover them up. Or make something out of them. I tell them that mistakes are the gateway to discovery. You might forget a couple of measures of a melody while you are on stage, but when you come off you know clearly what you don’t know and need to work on. You quickly find where the holes are.

“In class, we can provide the students with the solutions to some chords, give some ideas, but it’s the jam session where you can put them to the test.

It can get to the point where I tell a student that I’m not going to teach you anymore unless you start coming to the sessions. You’re not going to learn how to use what we teach unless you put it to the test.” Bobby Watson SpeaksJamming on the Importance of “It’s not really natural for all students to naturally
gravitate to the jam sessions. We have some, like a Kevin Cerovich, and Will Sanders, some guys are right there from day one. My drummers and rhythm section players, they’re like there.
Others, I ask why they don’t come, they’ll say, ‘I really have to practice.’ Well, I used to practice hours every day in my teens, until I was twentyone, up until the time that I got my first gig in
Miami, six nights a week. I learned more, progressed more in the next six months than I did all those years. All the practice came together in front of people. The endorphins, whatever they
call them, they kick in. Your heightened sense of hearing, your listening, it all goes up a notch. That’s how you learn to operate in that zone, to relax.

“I let them do what they want, but they look to us for comments. And they develop a whole other level of camaraderie. The kids will pat each other on the back, say that was nice, stuff like that.
Everybody’s not at the same level or growing at the same rate, but they are growing. It breaks down a lot of that hierarchy stuff. And I can give instant individual feedback; you can’t do that in a classroom setting. It’s little things, too, like how to end songs,
how to do a little tag at the end. Or introductions, there’s so much there. Stage presence. Looking at each other, listening. I could really tell during our trip to Europe, you could tell our guys knew
each other better than some other bands did; those bands didn’t have the opportunity to jam like we do.

“Now I have to explain, a jam session is not a cutting session. A cutting session is when you take a song that everyone knows and you modulate through all the keys. When you get to a difficult
key, if somebody stumbles, they sit down. We don’t do cutting sessions.

“We have a list we keep; after you play one song three times you can’t play it anymore. You get songs that are on the ‘no play’ list. This forces everybody to learn new songs. They have to bring
in something new, write out the songs, the lead sheets, so if they call a song that the rhythm section doesn’t know they can hand it out.

“It was always my dream to find a place to do this, and it is great that Mike Devine at Mike’s offered his place up to us.”






	Search our site:		Bobby Watson Speaks on the Importance of Jamming There is much formal jazz education in Kansas City, from programs for pre-schoolers to Master Classes at UMKC. But for jazz students, one of the keys to developing the craft is as old as the music itself—seeking out and participating in jam sessions. Jam sessions take many forms. It might be an informal get-together in someone’s living room or an empty music room at school. They can also be regular events at establishments like the Blue Room, Y.J.’s Snack Shack, the Mutual Musicians Foundation, or Mike’s Tavern on Troost, where UMKC students hold court every Thursday evening. “It takes us a few weeks to get the student combos settled at UMKC,” says UMKC jazz professor Bobby Watson. “We try to group the students so that the combos are balanced. Some kids are deliberately put in situations where they are over their heads at first. They meet at a designated time two times a week. They develop a rapport among themselves. “One of the reasons that we make these scheduled jam sessions at Mike’s a part of our program is that students that didn’t think they could play with each other find out that they can. They get to play with people they don’t get to play with during the day. It’s also different from playing in the combos at school because at school the adrenaline really isn’t there. It’s different when you play in front of people. There’s a regular crowd that comes to Mike’s. For the students, it’s sort of a trial by fire, because they call a song; if they know it they play it, if they don’t they sit down. It also emphasizes what the art form is about, trial and error. Experimentation, trial and error, just like scientists. Scientists try things a number of times, and fail until they perfect something. We do the same, but when you say ‘trial and error,’ that’s scary. It’s hard to believe that you pay your money to go to an institution for somebody to tell you that. They expect you to say, ‘If you do this, this will happen, and you’ll be successful.’ But say ‘trial and error,’ they say, no! what? “I’ve seen a lot of kids come out of their shell at these jam sessions. I’m thinking of changing it to Jazz Lab. That’s really what it is. “I try to be there every Thursday and give comments and encouragement, like you’d do with a fighter between rounds. That kind of coaching. It’s really fun for me, to watch them get up, people who are normally shy. “It’s another world when you’re on stage like that. And you have to accept your mistakes. And learn how to cover them up. Or make something out of them. I tell them that mistakes are the gateway to discovery. You might forget a couple of measures of a melody while you are on stage, but when you come off you know clearly what you don’t know and need to work on. You quickly find where the holes are. “In class, we can provide the students with the solutions to some chords, give some ideas, but it’s the jam session where you can put them to the test. It can get to the point where I tell a student that I’m not going to teach you anymore unless you start coming to the sessions. You’re not going to learn how to use what we teach unless you put it to the test.” Bobby Watson SpeaksJamming on the Importance of “It’s not really natural for all students to naturally gravitate to the jam sessions. We have some, like a Kevin Cerovich, and Will Sanders, some guys are right there from day one. My drummers and rhythm section players, they’re like there. Others, I ask why they don’t come, they’ll say, ‘I really have to practice.’ Well, I used to practice hours every day in my teens, until I was twentyone, up until the time that I got my first gig in Miami, six nights a week. I learned more, progressed more in the next six months than I did all those years. All the practice came together in front of people. The endorphins, whatever they call them, they kick in. Your heightened sense of hearing, your listening, it all goes up a notch. That’s how you learn to operate in that zone, to relax. “I let them do what they want, but they look to us for comments. And they develop a whole other level of camaraderie. The kids will pat each other on the back, say that was nice, stuff like that. Everybody’s not at the same level or growing at the same rate, but they are growing. It breaks down a lot of that hierarchy stuff. And I can give instant individual feedback; you can’t do that in a classroom setting. It’s little things, too, like how to end songs, how to do a little tag at the end. Or introductions, there’s so much there. Stage presence. Looking at each other, listening. I could really tell during our trip to Europe, you could tell our guys knew each other better than some other bands did; those bands didn’t have the opportunity to jam like we do. “Now I have to explain, a jam session is not a cutting session. A cutting session is when you take a song that everyone knows and you modulate through all the keys. When you get to a difficult key, if somebody stumbles, they sit down. We don’t do cutting sessions. “We have a list we keep; after you play one song three times you can’t play it anymore. You get songs that are on the ‘no play’ list. This forces everybody to learn new songs. They have to bring in something new, write out the songs, the lead sheets, so if they call a song that the rhythm section doesn’t know they can hand it out. “It was always my dream to find a place to do this, and it is great that Mike Devine at Mike’s offered his place up to us.” RETURN TO DECEMBER 2006/JANUARY 2007 MAIN INDEX © Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors 1996-2006. 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