"This is not a school. I am not a teacher," says Jones. But since the Portland drummer, composer, bandleader and educator founded AJAM in 2009, a considerable number of the emerging jazz musicians in the Portland area - as well as a couple in New York and Los Angeles - have passed through AJAM as students, teachers or both."
"That's not the entire enrollment," Jones hastens to point out. "There are people who just love to play and want to learn. And there are younger people who haven't made up their mind. But they are in the minority. This is a niche system that caters to people who are already really good. It's an environment where we come together because we all care about the same stuff."
"It's a location as unconventional as the approach to teaching and learning that Jones promotes."
"Almost all the teachers here are also students," he says of the eight teachers involved, which creates a unique, collaborative atmosphere at AJAM.
Collection
[
|
...
]