With live music every night, the Rose Bowl Tavern in Urbana provides a one-of-a-kind spot for musicians in the area to share their talents. With the recent closing of the Iron Post in downtown Urbana, the Rose Bowl remains one of the few spots in the Champaign-Urbana area to host live music on a regular basis.

The Rose Bowl’s jazz scene has especially thrived during this time, with local musicians coming in small groups to showcase their musical skills. The primary open jazz event at the Rose Bowl is the Jazz Jam. The weekly event is open to the public, with musicians being able to sign up in small groups to perform throughout the two-hour time slot on Wednesday evenings. 

Jazz groups of any instrumentation are welcomed, with most groups consisting of primary jazz instruments like saxophone, trumpet, trombone, piano, bass and percussion. 

While the weekly event is not run by the University of Illinois, the majority of the performers are University jazz or music students. These students have the opportunity to showcase their skills or tunes worked on in lessons, and most importantly, they get more experience performing in front of a live audience.

Katie Zaucha, sophomore in FAA, performed at the Jazz Jam this past Monday night. Zaucha added that regular live performances gave her the opportunity to grow as a student.

“It’s fun to socialize with people that I know, but also, for me as a performance major, it’s something that gives me an opportunity to build my skill set,” Zaucha said. 

Jazz as a genre is known for embracing live playing and improvising in the moment. Zaucha commented that playing with a group is much more encouraging than practicing alone at school.

“I can go sit in a practice room and practice for hours and hours and play along with backing tracks and whatever, but it’s not the same as being with other people, where even if you have a certain role in the group, you’re still having a conversation with everybody,” Zaucha said.

This conversation is what makes performing live so important to jazz musicians, she said. Locations like the Rose Bowl Tavern continue to make it possible for local artists to share their ideas with others and absorb the talents of their surrounding community.

With a friendly atmosphere and no cover charge for the event, the Rose Bowl was fairly full with a combination of community members from the C-U area and University students. Like other Rose Bowl events, the warm environment creates a space to make connections and bond with others over shared interests in music. 

An accepting space is especially important to beginning jazz performers and students. The Rose Bowl’s weekly Jazz Jam has no requirements for signing up to perform.

“Basically anybody who wants to play a couple jazz tunes can come, and they can put their name down on the list, and we can all play together,” Zaucha said.

The Rose Bowl’s Jazz Jam is held every week on Wednesday nights from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m. A complete calendar of events at the Rose Bowl Tavern can be seen online at rosebowltavern.com. Come out to perform with friends, gain musical experience or just enjoy listening to the musical conversation. 

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