It’s a Wednesday night. The hustle and bustle of Green Street may be at bay, but the swinging tunes of Urbana are up and alive.
Rose Bowl Tavern hosts a Jazz Jam every Wednesday starting at 10 p.m., with music carrying on past midnight.
The bar is quite hidden, with the entrance squeezed between Race Street and Goose Alley. Once inside, however, the horns of musicians on the stage greet bar-goers as they enter.
Those who are looking for the chance to play some jazz can find a seat at the front of the bar, while casual listeners tend to sit at the outskirts on barstools or in booths.
Elijah Hill and Liam Kelly, seniors in Engineering and FAA, respectively, are now regular attendees and performers at Jazz Jam.
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“We have a lot of friends here, and it’s fun to play with them,” Kelly said. “It’s a great opportunity to get playing and to get better.”
As 10 p.m. rolls around, the house band takes the stage to kick off the night. After about two or three songs, the jam begins. An emcee randomly calls up musicians, so everyone must be prepared at all times.
“Who goes up there every song is different every time,” Kelly said. “I don’t even know who I’m going to play with when I get up there. You sign up by putting your name and your instrument, and if you want to play a specific song. You get called up whenever.”
Bhuvan Kala, senior in LAS, is a saxophonist who found out about the Rose Bowl Tavern’s jam session when looking for places to perform outside of the ensembles the University offers.
Luckily for him, he found just the thing.
“I was like, ‘Anyone can come here? No way,’” Kala said. “I just came for the first time ever during the second semester of my sophomore year.”
The structure of Jazz Jam is true to the nature of jazz, which both Kala and Hill attested.
“It’s improvising,” Hill said. “That’s jazz. It’s improvising over a song with set chords.”
The improvisation of jazz often intimidates most players. The casual structure of these jam sessions, however, allows these musicians to work on these skills in front of a crowd.
Kala said some performers can bring sheet music on stage with them if needed, but most shy away from that. He prefers to stick to conversation that happens on stage.
“Something like (jam sessions) are institutional to musicians,” Kala said. “I mean, you can play at gig places like Seven Saints, but this is the best way to get your reps in and get you connected with other musicians.”
More than just giving musicians a stage to play on, Rose Bowl Tavern has given these performers a community they would have never found elsewhere.
By performing at these jam sessions, Kala explained how he was able to play with people who had different levels of expertise and were outside of the University, allowing him to find himself as a musician.
“Coming here was really instrumental to finding my voice and my sound,” Kala said. “It’s easy to come here and be like, ‘Shoot. Can I even play like that?’ But then you realize that you have your own voice and style, and I’ve even had people come here and tell me they’ve preferred my distinct style and might want me to play with them.”
He said he even convinced some friends to come with him despite their prior lack of exposure to jazz.
Rohan Gavankar, senior LAS and friend of Kala, explained how he never listened to jazz much before Kala started performing at Rose Bowl Tavern. Now, he frequents in support of Kala.
Even as an outsider of the jazz world, Gavankar noted the variety of the crowd. Jazz night pulls from folks old and young alike, with and without knowledge of music.
“You come here late at night, a little tired, but just to come here and close your eyes, and it just transports you,” Gavankar said. “It brings a different activity to the community that’s unique. I feel like many people don’t know the amount of culture that Urbana-Champaign has to offer. This is something that is on a Wednesday night when there’s not a lot of things going on.”
Jazz Jam can get someone out of the house to experience something new, like Gavankar, or to master their craft, like Kala.
“The best way to improve is just by playing and putting yourself in tough situations,” Kelly said. “So, if you’re interested, even if you’re a beginner, just show up and play. Everyone is really supportive.”
