The beat goes on at York College jam sessions, despite major COVID adjustments

Before COVID, York College musicians would get together to jam each week in a first-floor classroom inside the main academic building. Photo courtesy of Prof. Thomas Zlabinger

By David Brand

Back in the pre-COVID era, Tuesdays meant jam sessions on the first floor of York College’s main academic building.

Performers of various backgrounds and tastes would meet up and rock out inside room LL01, a space Prof. Thomas Zlabinger transformed into a “very old school, in your garage”-style studio.

“Whoever entered the room would play. If we had four guitar players, we made it work,” said Zlabinger, an ethnomusicologist. “It was just a joy to do every Tuesday.”

But COVID cut the music.

Campus closed, the musicians were stuck at home and the loss of the Tuesday community took a toll on Zlabinger, and the students and alumni who visited each week. 

So after a six-month hiatus, they resurrected the initiative, this time on Zoom.

They were back at it on Oct. 20, when six students and alums linked up with Zlabinger to share some of their recent work and to chat about the music-making process.  

York grad Deggra the Goddess kicked off the gathering by singing Nina Simone while sitting in her car. Her performances usually incorporate two puppets, Sparkle and Frederick Douglass, she explained. 

Student Omar Feliciano, leader of the rock band Phoenix Within, served as the featured performer. Before playing his music, Feliciano discussed his commitment to making music and maintaining his website.

“You have to work, you have to work every day because you’re going to meet someone new and that person has to know what you do,” he said.

Going remote has shifted the nature of the events from jam sessions to song circles, but the weekly get-togethers still provide musicians with an outlet to share their work and receive feedback, Zlabinger said.

“The bonds we create through our music are unique ones,” he said. “It’s like sports or theater or front line workers — there’s a sense of camaraderie, trust and loyalty on the bandstand that you don’t have sitting alone on the computer.”

The remote sessions help keep that community spirit alive, Zlabinger said. 

“We need to see each other and support each other,” he said. “To say ‘I took a risk and I flipped through the air and didn’t fall on the floor.’”