Ak Jazz Workshop Community Jazz Jam Session at Fire Island Bakery

The AJW Community Jazz Session, hosted by AJW Instructor Nick Petumenos and friends, at the Fire Island Bakery in Anchorage, AK is a festive social gathering. It is an intermediate space between the music classroom and the professional stage, a networking hub for musicians, and a celebration of the art form Jazz, “America’s classical music.” This weekly event takes place from 6:00 – 9:00 PM every Monday and is open to the public and is free. Attendees may voluntarily contribute a five-dollar suggested donation, or exceed it, according to their inclination. The backline instruments including drums, bass and guitar amps, a keyboard, and a PA. are supplied. Horn players need to bring their instruments. Jammers should come prepared to play 2-3 common jam songs that they know out of the Real Book 6th edition. ...

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The AJW Community Jazz Session, hosted by AJW Instructor Nick Petumenos and friends, at the Fire Island Bakery in Anchorage, AK is a festive social gathering. It is an intermediate space between the music classroom and the professional stage, a networking hub for musicians, and a celebration of the art form Jazz, “America’s classical music.” This weekly event takes place from 6:00 – 9:00 PM every Monday and is open to the public and is free. Attendees may voluntarily contribute a five-dollar suggested donation, or exceed it, according to their inclination. The backline instruments including drums, bass and guitar amps, a keyboard, and a PA. are supplied. Horn players need to bring their instruments. Jammers should come prepared to play 2-3 common jam songs that they know out of the Real Book 6th edition.

The Fire Island Bakery generously donates their space to allow this valuable cultural event to take place. All proceeds from public donations go to paying the hosting musicians for their time, equipment, and expertise, and to getting the word out about the event to the community.

The AJW Jazz Session creates the opportunity for advanced professionals to mentor aspiring musicians in a casual and wholesome collaborative performance environment. Contemporary music performance often necessarily takes place in venues that have the primary objective of selling alcohol, which limits artistic choices. By holding the session in a donated public space and operating on crowd-sourced and grant-based funding, musicians are better able to workshop challenging and culturally rich music like jazz and related genres. These sessions also a create a sense of togetherness for people across demographics and provide lively Monday evening entertainment for players and non-players alike.

The AJW Community Jazz Session is supported by generous grants from the Atwood and Rasmuson Foundations, the MUNI of Anchorage, the Rick and Cyndie Fox Family Foundation, and private donations from our community supporters.

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