Flushing Town Hall celebrates a decade of Jazz Jams

Flushing Town Hall’s next Jazz Jam will feature returning musicians from the program’s early days. Photo via FTH

By Rachel Vick

Flushing Town Hall is set to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Louis Armstrong Legacy Jazz Jam next week with a few special guests.

The anniversary session will highlight the program’s history with Queens Jazz Overground — the band that led the program in 2014.

“Our partnership with Queens College provided graduate music students with an opportunity to jam together locally and educate young musicians in Jazz,” said Flushing Town Hall Director of Education & Public Programs Gabrielle Hamilton. “A few years later, the jam expanded to reach more musicians under the leadership of Brian Woodruff and Queens Jazz OverGround, so I am excited that he and some of the QJOG original members will be joining us on stage with… our current house band, to acknowledge ten years of great Jazz right here in Flushing”

Woodruff said QJOG “had no idea how influential and established this monthly event would become over the years.”

The jam on Oct. 13 will open at 7 p.m. with the current house jazz band, followed by Queens Jazz OverGround performing Dinah by Harry Akst, and Joe Young before participating musicians have the opportunity to flex their performance muscles.

Carol Sudhalter, who has led the house band since 2016, said the opportunity to perform alongside the preceding group is a welcome opportunity.

“Everybody in the band loves being back and having guests; they're our friends, they are people we know,” Sudhalter said. “The jazz community is small.”

“Gabrielle thought up that jam and it was a brilliant idea and it's definitely worth paying tribute to the first people and the founding of it,” she added. “It’s a great idea that grew and grew over the years; I think it's fabulous and worth recognizing the history… acknowledging our ancestors, legendary figures and the roots [of the style].”

Though the performance will be streamed, October’s event is only the second jam to be held in-person after a year of virtual programming from the venue that Sudhalter described as “a well oiled machine.”

Proof of COVID-19 vaccination is required to attend in-person, and safety precautions for musicians include the sanitization of microphones in between performances and a mask requirement for performers except those playing wind instruments.

More details and tickets are available online.