April J.A.M. Sessions, 2024 Jazz Club of Lafayette Fundraiser Kickoff
A big THANK YOU to all who attended and otherwise supported The Jazz Club’s Fall ’23 and Winter ’24 concerts. As we’re on the brink of Spring, we’re excited about the upcoming April J.A.M. Sessions, and about the month-long drive through the end of April to help continue funding our club’s free public Jazz performances and educational initiatives.
From The Jazz Club of Lafayette’s President Scott Pazera:
April is Jazz Appreciation Month Nationwide. In affiliation with the Smithsonian and National Museum of American History, we once again offer a month-long series of events and concerts to celebrate this uniquely American art form. JAM is intended to stimulate and encourage people of all ages to participate in jazz, to study the music, attend concerts, listen to jazz on radio and recordings, read books about jazz, and more. The weekly Wednesday J.A.M. sessions are hosted at the Knickerbocker Saloon. The Knickerbocker Saloon is a non-smoking venue indoors and is a 21-and-over establishment. The J.A.M. sessions begin at 7 p.m. and will run until 10 p.m. There is no cover charge for the J.A.M. sessions.
Donation Drive – New Funding Model, Different Approach
As our organization has moved away from a membership-based model, we are hoping to reach out to the community for continued support to bring jazz programming to the entire community. From now through the end of April, we will continue to re-establish our relationships with previous members to ask for support in the 2024-5 season. We are also hoping to establish new relationships with individuals, small businesses, and corporations who may be interested in supporting our mission in their communities.
2024-25 Season Budget Objectives
The April 2024 fundraising and sponsorship drive reflects our club’s mission to fund free public jazz performances and jazz-focused educational initiatives. To cover the costs of April and October Jam Sessions, three Fall-Winter Concert Series events, and funding for continuing education in our schools and other public spaces, we have established an annual budget goal of $10,000. We hope to achieve this goal through organizational/business sponsorships and individual donations. We are looking for 10 organizations that can sponsor between $500 and $1,000 each, and 100 individuals who can donate at levels between $25 and $50 each for this year. We’d love your support for the Jazz Club and look forward to seeing you at our events. Donations can be mailed to: The Jazz Club, P.O. Box 242, Lafayette, IN 47902. If you’d prefer to offer your contribution online you can do so via our PayPal account accessible here. Your tax-deductible donations can also be made in person at our events.
Please consider what you can do to help our club continue Jazz-focused entertainment and education. If you know of potential sponsorship opportunities or have questions about our fundraising efforts, please reach out to us via email. Looking forward to seeing you at The Knickerbocker in April!
About The Jazz Club of Lafayette
We’re All About Appreciating, Promoting, and Performing Jazz Music!
The Jazz Club of Lafayette, Indiana is a nonprofit, local-community-supported organization dedicated to broadening appreciation for and participation in the creation and performance of Jazz music. Ongoing local events include Jazz concerts, Jazz and Blues Festival participation, and Jazz Jams, all of which are funded through club memberships and monetary donations from local individuals and businesses. For news about upcoming events, you can connect to The Jazz Club of Lafayette, Indiana via our Facebook page at this link.
Zamora Scholarship
In addition to funding and supporting local Jazz performances and musicians, The Jazz Club of Lafayette, Indiana also awards an annual cash scholarship in the name of mentor, educator and Jazz saxophone master Antonio “Tony” Zamora (1930-2020). During his adult life, Tony Zamora dedicated his energies to building community relationships and opportunities for black students at the University of Illinois (1970-1971) and Purdue University (1973-1995), and to making Jazz education and performance accessible to students and the general public. Established in 2015, the Zamora Scholarship is awarded through a Jazz performance competition among high school-age entrants in the Greater Lafayette area. Performances are judged by an annually-rotating scholarship committee which includes area Jazz musicians and educators. You can learn more about the life and legacy of Antonio “Tony” Zamora here, and those who are interested in the annual Zamora Scholarship can reach out to our executive committee through this email: director@thejazzclub.org.
How We Jam…
At our local events, you can expect to hear traditional Early Jazz, Swing (Dance Era), BeBop Jazz, and selections from what has come to be known as The Great American Songbook. Concerts feature seasoned, professional musicians who are accomplished Jazz guitar, saxophone, trumpet, clarinet, flute, vibraphone, upright bass, and percussion instrumentalists. Jazz vocalists are also an integral part of concerts and Jazz jams. Among our members and directors are full-time Jazz musicians, Jazz educators, and Jazz aficionados, all of whom are committed to enjoying the many opportunities available to perform and hear local Jazz music.
Where We’re From…
Of special benefit–and a continuing source of enrichment to our club and its members–is our proximity to…
- Purdue University and its Jazz Ensembles and “Purdue Convos” programs, which offer excellent local Jazz performances among undergraduate student groups, and bring national and internationally-known Jazz performers into the community (and sometimes into local classrooms)
- Indiana University (Bloomington) and the Jazz Studies program at its Jacobs School of Music, one of the world’s preeminent Jazz studies programs, which has established and continues to grow an extraordinary community of Jazz performers, many of whom remain in Central Indiana and participate in Jazz education and performance at area schools and venues
- Greater Indianapolis, the historic home of some of Jazz music’s greatest musicians and composers, including Wes Montgomery, J.J. Johnson, Freddie Hubbard, Jimmy Coe, Slide Hampton, Noble Sissle, David Baker, Leroy Carr, The Hampton Sisters, The Ink Spots and more. Just an hour from the Lafayette area, Indianapolis maintains the extraordinary legacy of these and other musicians and composers through The Chatterbox Jazz Club on Massachusetts Avenue, and at The Jazz Kitchen (named by Downbeat Magazine as one of the world’s top 100 Jazz Clubs) at 54th & College Avenue.
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