The AJW Community Jazz Session at Fire Island Bakery is a festive social gathering, an intermediate space between the music classroom and the professional stage, a networking hub for musicians, and a celebration of the art form Jazz, “America’s classical music.” The event takes place from 6:00 – 9:00 PM every Monday at 718 K Street, is open to the public and is free. Attendees may voluntarily contribute a five-dollar suggested donation, or exceed it, according to their inclination. Fire Island Bakery generously donates their space to allow this valuable cultural event to take place. All proceeds from public donations go to paying the hosting musicians for their time, equipment, and expertise, and to getting the word out about the event to the community.
The session creates the opportunity for advanced professionals to mentor aspiring musicians in a casual and wholesome collaborative performance environment. Contemporary music performance often necessarily takes place in venues that have the primary objective of selling alcohol, which limits artistic choices. By holding the session in a donated public space and operating on crowd-sourced and grant-based funding, musicians are better able to workshop challenging and culturally rich music like jazz and related genres. These sessions also a create a sense of togetherness for people across demographics and provide lively Monday evening entertainment for players and non-players alike.
Jazz Appreciation
Unfamiliar with jazz? Here are some useful insights for the listener.
Session Etiquette
New to the session and interested in playing? Read this first.
Tunes of the Month
Check out the Tunes of the Month to get a glimpse of session repertoire.
Interested in donating to the AJW Community Jazz Session?
We humbly request a $5.00 suggested donation for the Monday event.
If one feels inclined to make a more robust donation, visit akjazzworkshop.org* and click donate, type JAZZ JAM in the field marked “special instructions to seller.”
*Alaska Jazz Workshop is a non-profit organization and can provide tax-deductible receipts for larger contributions.
Food and drink are not currently offered during this event. Fire Island Rustic Bakery is not open on Monday evenings.