Small Jazz Ensembles and Improvisation Workshop

The Williams College Department of Music presents small jazz ensembles under the tutelage of Andy Jaffe, John Wheeler, and Avery Sharpe on Wednesday, May 11 at 7 p.m. in Brooks-Rogers Recital Hall on the Williams College campus. This free event is open to the public.

It might come as a surprise to most people that the art of musical improvisation is a skill to be learned, and not, as many might think, merely an expression of brilliant intuition and talent. Hearing the world’s great improvisational musicians, it is hard to believe that any of them at one time couldn’t play a note. The process of learning improvisation could be seen as at least two distinct musical activities. The musician has to play the instrument while simultaneously composing. Neither of these operations, even singly, is very easy. To compound the complexity of it, these musicians also are trying to communicate their thoughts musically to other musicians and to an audience. Any person starting out on such an arduous musical journey needs a navigator and guide to get them to where they want to go.

Williams College has many great guides, among them veteran teachers like Andy Jaffe, John Wheeler, and Avery Sharpe, who are themselves masters of this incredibly complex process and are the heirs to many generations of musicians who have spent their entire lives pondering these mysteries and refining the process. They have navigated the channels of improvisation themselves and are attuned to what their students need. All are adept at breaking down the art of improvisation to its essential elements, so that they can show anyone with the interest and patience to try how to get started making their own music. The results are fascinating, as any visitor to a concert of the Small Jazz Ensembles can attest. Music students performing in this concert take classes in improvisation and/or perform with the groups “Five O’Clock Shadow” or “SRH Sextet.” Traditionally formal theory and training certainly play a part in the education of a musician who improvises in the jazz idiom or in some other improvisational form. Peer learning and the oral tradition are critical elements of the training, and performing is crucial to the success of these musicians. As to be expected in a peer group, the stronger musicians help the beginners. Jazz fans in and around Williamstown will already be familiar with some of the outstanding players within this scene. The energy and personality of the performers, regardless of where they are on the continuum of musicianship, is a delight.

Event Program