Roosevelt Jazz musicians were joined by students from other Seattle-area schools for a hands-on lesson on jamming taught by Seattle-area musician Steve Treseler at The Sheridan Market on Aug. 18.
Listen to the students play “Funky Girl”
by Akiko Tsuruga, the final song of a jam-packed two hours of tunes and good times for the more than 20 students who turned out to learn how to play music by ear. Here’s the original “Funky Girl.”
Hosted by the Roosevelt Jazz Booster Club and The Sheridan Market, our jam was a learning opportunity and fundraiser for the Roosevelt High School jazz program. Steve is a saxophonist, composer, teaching artist and author who performs and leads improvisation workshops throughout North America and internationally.
“Jazz is social music, and the most authentic jazz experience is a jam session,” Steve told the crowd at the Sheridan Roadhouse. “Winning trophies is fun, but jamming, hanging, learning, and meeting new friends is what it’s all about.”
More than $250 was raised at the Roadhouse Jam. Our goal is to raise $350, which will pay for event costs AND a 90-minute clinic with a professional musician for one of our four ensembles during the school year. Help us reach our goal by donating today!
Roosevelt Jazz receives the majority of its financial support from the Roosevelt Jazz Booster Club. Boosters are Roosevelt High School families, friends and neighbors, alumni, small businesses, and lovers of jazz everywhere who help us support a public-school jazz education of the highest quality and make it accessible to students regardless of financial circumstance. Thank you for making this possible!
Through the collection of annual student dues, family and business donations, and money earned through events like the Roadhouse Jam, the booster club pays for three directors, as well as provides a stipend to the teacher of our in-school ensemble. Boosters also pay for ALL clinician workshops, an annual retreat, festival preparation, music charts, instrument upkeep, and offers scholarships.
The booster club is grateful to the ongoing support from The Sheridan Market and Roadhouse and its co-owners Ernesto Pediangco and Paula Goode.
We want to send a shout-out to Ernesto, who joined our students on the drums for a song or two, and our recent Roosevelt Jazz alumni–Jack Hawley (‘24, trumpet, voice) and Alex Phelps (‘24, trombone, piano)–who came out to support younger musicians, as well as our jam organizers, Booster Gretchen Ludwig and Roosevelt Jazz student Sky Van Scoyoc.
And a final and special thanks to all the students and their families who joined us from schools including, Chief Sealth, Eckstein, Garfield, Jane Addams, Lincoln, as well as students from Edmonds, Mountlake Terrace and Woodinville, for jamming, hanging, learning, and making new friends. Because, like Steve Treseler said, it’s what jazz is truly all about!
