In the early part of the 20th century, young jazz musicians developed their skills by hanging with other musicians at jam sessions. The Community Jazz Center of Greater Des Moines, (CJC) has continued that tradition every month for the past 35 years.
The CJC was started by Willie Thomas, a jazz trumpeter and educator who became nationally recognized and was inducted into the International Association for Jazz Education, (IAJE) Hall of Fame in 1994. An artist resident at Valley High School, he worked with students and parents to gain momentum and start the CJC in 1988.
Originally, the CJC focused solely on bringing jazz education to students. While that aspect hasn't shifted, the center has expanded to offer a volunteer big band, a hall of fame and a jazz appreciation month festival.
Abe Goldstien, executive director of the CJC, says the jam sessions are an opportunity for students to enhance their formal musical training by having the real-world experience of jamming with musicians of all ages and skill levels.
The informal jam sessions aim to cultivate the next generation of local jazz musicians. Some students who have participated in the jam sessions since the late 1980s have gone on to make their mark in Des Moines as well as the national jazz scene. Notable alumni include Nate Sparks, Nick Leo, Hannah Marks and Ross Clowser.
Clowser, a graduate from the University of Iowa, wrote his master’s in musicology thesis on the history of the CJC, titled, A past, present, and future of Des Moines jazz: an ethnography of the Des Moines Community Jazz Center’s student jam session.
Clowser started attending the jam sessions when he was 14. Once a terrified aspiring performer, he says the supportive environment put him at ease, welcoming him back to play in a judgment-free zone that promoted learning above all.
"It's an opportunity for kids to explore an art form in a really low-risk, really supportive environment... learning from professionals, from people in the community," Clowser said. "You get to interact as a kid with jazz musicians who are playing regularly, who are gigging, who are part of a larger history."
According to Clowser, who is now a freelance performer and composer based out of Minneapolis, Des Moines is the perfect size for community jazz to thrive. He stressed the importance of having the resources available for young performers.
"Des Moines always had been a really open scene for people to come in and play. There's not so many musicians that people are fighting... It's welcoming and it's a community of people that cares about each other," he said. "It's aimed at kids and aimed at getting kids involved."
One of the hallmarks of the CJC is being a drug and alcohol free zone. In fact, they even have a motto: "Say no to drugs and yes to jazz!" Clowser says especially with kids around, it's important for them to understand that music can exist without reliance on alcohol and drugs.
"It's a safe space,” he said. “Live music depends a lot on alcohol sales, so removing that from the equation and just having it be about the art and having kids there is ideal."
At any given jam session, more than a dozen central Iowa students from grade school to high school experience on-the-spot improvisation, supported by some of the area’s finest working jazz musicians — many of whom also attended CJC when they were in school.
"This is an intergenerational community. It's a cultural practice that's being passed down in an afternoon, and you get to be a part of that history, which is not always the case," Clowser said. "There's so many little moments I had with people… little tiny musical moments that happen that are fun, or you learn something, or you make a mistake or you get a compliment."
The CJC continues to hold free, monthly jam sessions at Franklin Middle School that are open to the public on every first Sunday of the month.
