The SSU Music Department held a Jazz Forum on Wednesday with guest Lisa Mezzacappa. The department holds forums every Wednesday from 1 p.m to 2:45 p.m. This session was led by Ian Carey at Schroeder Hall in room 1029. 

Jazz forums are classes that expose jazz majors and guests to different styles of jazz. Dr. Douglas Leibinger, the director of jazz studies said, “There is a beauty and complexity within jazz that cannot be seen in other genres of music, it is like the deep, endless ocean where there is a mystery to it.” 

For Wednesday’s jazz forum, the jazz orchestra worked on one song to perfect. The orchestra broke down the song and practiced each individual part. According to Ian Carey, the jazz band director, this is the best way for the orchestra to practice their music. “Jazz teaches people to tackle big problems, and put them into smaller parts. By breaking them down into those smaller parts it makes it easier to take on what an individual felt was such a hard and difficult problem originally.” 

During the event, there was commentary and constructive criticism from guest Lisa Mezzacappa, a San Francisco-based composer, bassist, bandleader, and producer. When commenting on the orchestra’s work, she said, “You guys did a great job of capturing the dreamy, nostalgic, moody quality of the song… You guys perfectly expressed it with your arrangements, the beautiful intensity.” 

Mezzacappa provided insight as to how the jazz orchestra can grow as musicians. 

“A lot of times an exercise like this can be very fun because it makes you practice at different intervals,” she said. “You also practice different techniques… this becomes a process for experimentation and exploration, and trying to get into those corners so that you can surprise each other and yourself.”

The forums allow the Jazz Orchestra to practice in a judgement free space, and to get feedback from Jazz professionals.