Jazz After Class: Exploring Small Group Jazz
10 Week Course at the MAC Arts Center in Media, PA
Wednesday evenings from 6-8
January 25-March 29, 2023
Final Concert Date TBD
$55 for drop-ins (please send advance notice)
Scholarships available (form here)
Open to students grades 8-12 of all levels. All instruments are welcome.
Questions: Contact Jeff Thomas, MAC Music Director music@mediaartscouncil.org
Led by Temple University Jazz Instructors Chris Oatts (saxophone) and Jacob Kelberman (guitar), the Winter session of Jazz After Class will focus on learning standard jazz repertoire in order to perform, sit in with, and play with other jazz musicians. Each week will begin with the study of music theory; chords and scales that are associated with the tunes that students are learning. This will give students broader knowledge of the technical elements of how to improvise as well as study the finer points of the songs they are performing. By the final concert, students will have learned a jazz repertoire that will allow them to perform with any group. Students will learn:
Go-to Jazz Standards that all musicians need to know
How to improvise
How chords and scales work together
Critical listening skills and transcription
Jazz history
How to compose music
Instructors and Guests:
Chris Oatts
Chris Oatts is a Philadelphia-based saxophonist, composer, and educator. He is the head of the jazz ensemble at The Shipley School and is on faculty at Temple’s Boyer School of Music. He is also a big band leader, with a Bachelor’s in Jazz Performance and a Master's in Music Education, both from Temple University.
Jake Kelberman
Jake Kelberman is a Philadelphia-based guitarist and musician, composer, and educator. He is a professor of jazz guitar and small ensemble director at Temple’s Boyer School of Music in Philadelphia. Jake has performed at venues and festivals throughout North America, South America, and Europe. and was a finalist in both the Wilson Center Jazz Guitar Competition in Milwaukee, WI, and the “Keep an Eye” Jazz Competition in Amsterdam, NL, and has performed in the Montreux Jazz Guitar Competition in Montreux, Switzerland.
Special Guest Artists John Legend’s trumpet player Christopher Stevens
Jazz After Class is made possible in part by the Delaware County Interactive Revenue Authority