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Where is Odie Wallace?
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Each group is coached by two
teachers from the organization, all from top jazz programs in different corners
of the world. The students spend an action-packed seven days learning together:
rehearsing, performing, composing, attending concerts and workshops,
participating in late night student jam sessions, and—yes—even doing some
sightseeing. We call it “playing” music, but there is a lot of hard work
involved! Odie Wallace will remember his experience with the IASJ for a long
time. “Mind-blowing, enlightening, and inspiring” are a few of the words he
used to describe it.
How did Odie Wallace find his way to Denmark? A-JAM. Launched in 2010, A-JAM was created to provide opportunities for Alamo College students to succeed both locally and internationally in the world of jazz. An intercollegiate and intercultural project, it is open--by audition--to music majors from any of the five Alamo Colleges and Trinity University. Auditions are held each year in November (the week before Thanksgiving), at which time finalists are selected to form the A-JAM combo for that year. Contact Katchie Cartwright for more information.
How did Odie Wallace find his way to Denmark? A-JAM. Launched in 2010, A-JAM was created to provide opportunities for Alamo College students to succeed both locally and internationally in the world of jazz. An intercollegiate and intercultural project, it is open--by audition--to music majors from any of the five Alamo Colleges and Trinity University. Auditions are held each year in November (the week before Thanksgiving), at which time finalists are selected to form the A-JAM combo for that year. Contact Katchie Cartwright for more information.
A-JAM prepares serious music students like
Odie Wallace for high-level pre-professional experiences like the IASJ meeting.
During the spring semester, The A-JAM combo meets for weekly rehearsals, performs
locally, and is coached by top regional professionals and visiting artists. Among
other events, they are the subject of a one-hour radio broadcast on KRTU’s South Texas Jazz Project, hosted by JJ
Lopez, and a follow-up interview on KRTU’s Planet Jazz, hosted by A-JAM program
director Katchie Cartwright. The 2013 A-JAM group featured student
soloists Bianca Johnson (voice) from St. Phillip's College, Odie Wallace (bass)
from Northwest Vista College, and Ben Whitehead from Trinity University.
Odie
is the third student from San Antonio to participate in the international jazz
meeting. Singer Jeané Gaines went to Brazil in 2011 as the first A-JAM super
star; Stephen Bennett went to Austria in 2012 as the second. The experience of
this yearly jazz meeting is the subject of a new documentary. You can watch the
inspiring
trailer to see the program’s
vision in action. As Israeli filmmaker Leon Segal said, “It’s not just about
the music.” All participants go back to their schools with energy and ideas
that they share with their friends and colleagues back home. It’s not hard to
see how these one-on-one experiences widen the local horizons exponentially
over a very short period of time.
The
A-JAM program gives San Antonio students a chance to learn their craft at home
and to collaborate with a small select group of students and teachers abroad. It
serves as a launching pad for serious students who want to make their way into
the field, and gives them an opportunity to learn from high level teachers and
to collaborate with the finest students in the jazz world. Both at home and abroad, the program is
sustainable, precisely because it is based on small-scale grassroots one-on-one
experiences.
The
2014 jazz meeting will be held in Cape Town, South Africa in July. Auditions are the week before Thanksgiving. Listen up,
jazz students. It could be YOU next year!
Follow
the A-JAM Blog.
Like
A-JAM on Facebook:
Contact
Program Director Katchie Cartwright, 210-486-4828.
