Audubon Arts | Culture & Community | Music | Arts & Culture | Arts & Anti-racism | Neighborhood Cultural Vitality Grant Program
Nelani Mejias Photos.
The low rumble of drums mingled with the deep notes of a bass. A synthy groove joined in, and suddenly the sound fully conjured community. In a circle of seats, a growing number of attendees stomped, swayed, and moved along to keep the beat.
This was the final Seeing Sounds Jam Session of the spring season, held at Neighborhood Music School (NMS) last Saturday night. Based on the eponymous summer music festival and jam sessions at the former State House, the series gives musicians of all skill levels a chance to collaborate with one another and musically express themselves. It also takes its name from the N.E.R.D. album of the same name.
“I’m a musician before anything—that’s my foundation,” said musician Orion Solo (a.k.a. Trey Moore), who launched the jam sessions as a way to support and nurture the next generation of musicians. Working with Briana Louis, creative youth development program coordinator at NMS, he created a space where the unanimous goal is joy.
“We’re not trying to sell something,” he said.
The jam session began with an hour for students in NMS’ DELTA (Developing and Empowering Leadership Through the Arts) program, giving them the opportunity to hear feedback and workshop their growing musical skills. Students were able to tinker around with their own ideas, entering the musician circle and freely playing whatever they had in mind. One student bounced from drums to saxophone; another practiced her singing at the mic.
“Play what you think pink sounds like,” Solo encouraged students at one point. Pointing around the circle of musicians, the first cue went to a soft roll of cymbals, followed by a jazzy cello and saxophone blend. Each student’s pink synesthesia melted into the next, until a As the jam opened more widely to the community, Solo set the ground rules: “We listen to each other—we flow, we vibe.”student at the microphone overlaid the blended melody with bright vocals.
“We are so committed to our young people,” said Jenny Nelson, the senior director of programs at NMS.
Top: Jenny Nelson and Briana Louis.
As the jam opened more widely to the community, Solo set the ground rules: “We listen to each other—we flow, we vibe.”
A house band—Orion Solo, Wes Lewis, Jonathan Alexander III, Ron Hurt Jr., and Jeremiah Fuller—created a foundation. Rhythmic drums and bass led a tempo as energetic synth and the vibrant woodwinds joined in. Participants entered and began playing instruments of their own.
They waved people over as they came in, signaling an instrument was waiting for them. Organically, the sounds all fused together and attendees began to move in a way that was almost compulsory, some getting out of their seats and dancing. Others shook tambourines from their seat in the circle.
“It’s a small city, but you get a lot of different backgrounds,” Solo said of New Haven. “The artists are professional—masters of their craft.”
Before long, the room erupted with a funk version of “This Little Light of Mine” before being followed by other vocalists who took turns coming to the mic. One artist who went by “Dimples,” passionately sang the words: “there’s nothing like that golden love!” Another belted their rendition of Aretha Franklin’s, “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman.”
As the jam session progressed, it was as though attendees were able to hear community itself, psychically expressed through the music in the room. The instruments multiplied, from one drum set to a whole percussion ensemble, woodwinds lined up next to violins, tambourines and tapping shoes that added to the percussion section. Musicians who’d never met silently communicated to match one another, creating a united sound.
In creating a space, the session provided something unique to each attendee. It was a place where one could freely experiment, as it was when Moore ventured: “Give it up for Bobby Phoenix; He’s gonna try something!” He, alongside musicians, encouraged attendees to share any and all ideas.
For others, such as ECA and Hamden High School senior Perjah Delgado, the jam session was medicinal. “Music is really healing," she said as she held down a steady beat on the cowbell.
Or as Nelson said before the jam, each session creates its own personality. “A story happens here,” she said. Attendees won’t know what it is until they are in it.
Seeing sounds will be having a jam session block party July 12th.