Somethin'
As far as friendly jam sessions and classes welcoming true beginners, there’s one place that stands out. With its friendly, low-stress atmosphere, Somethin’ is a blessing for those who want to learn more and are ready to try playing jazz with others.
Somethin’ Jazz Cafe in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, welcomes all amateur musicians who are interested in playing jazz, perhaps especially players with little to no jazz or group experience who may feel nervous about overcoming the initial hurdle of jumping right into regular jazz jams.
While many other live session spots get right down to business with the standard jazz jam format, Somethin’ specializes in providing a series of structured classes to teach new or inexperienced students how to get started and continue playing in group jazz performance. As students progress, advanced class levels are also avaialble for higher-level sessions and players.
On every night of the week, Somethin’ offers these classes and jam sessions where players get a chance to pick songs and play with others. A big benefit to new players is having both instructors and more experienced players participating in the sessions. Having seasoned musicians playing right alongside in these sessions is a big benefit as they can help new players with guidance and tips. Playing together with more skilled musicians is an excellent way to learn and grow, and it’s also just a great, friendly place to practice and make new friends as well.
The beginner class lessons introduce the basics of jazz jams including customs and rules at sessions. These first classes are usually based on playing some simple standard jazz session songs again and again. The instructors play along, guide students, and offer tips and advice during the hands-on classes. By participating together, this format helps to make new players feel comfortable playing in jazz jam sessions.
For those with basic facility on their instrument but little to no experience with jazz, the first-timer class teacher newcomers the basics of jazz playing, usually structured around the 12-bar jazz blues form. This is a good introduction to how to play a song tougher with others in the jazz style. From here, the classes progress gently to become increasingly like jam sessions but using preselected songs like “Now’s the Time”, “Autumn Leaves”, “Bye Bye Blackbird”, and similar standards.
Class schedules are mapped out conveniently on their monthly online calendars and include first-timer classes (初めてジャズ, hajimete jazz), super-beginner classes (超超初心者, chouchou shoshinsha), and intermediate to advanced level classes.
The classes are all in Japanese, but for those with limited Japanese language ability, the teacher will try to find a way to convey what to do and how to do it. Even for those who don’t quite understand the lecture portion of the class, there is a lot of actual playing and participation. Although some initial nervousness is natural, Somethin’ has a friendly atmosphere with everyone in it together and helping each other out. The low intimidation factor makes the classes ideal for getting started with sessions, and for continuing practice to get used to typical jazz jam sessions.
Classes are held every day of the week and are structured in levels so that it is easy to find the right day and time for the various proficiency levels. Somethin’ website does a great job of explaining the system and class contents. Also, Somethin’ takes up two separate floors of the building, one floor for standard jazz, and another more geared for funk/soul/R&B.
While the majority of classes on the schedule are in a class-based format, there are also more regular jazz jam sessions on certain days and times. The sessions are a chance for each player in turn to choose the songs they want to play as a group. These are the usual jam session standards from The Real Book or versions of those books. One Japanese version, the Kurohon (黒本, black book), is not a copy of The Real Book but many of the same songs appear in both.
On specified nights, the jam sessions are even a casual combination of session and party. Participants can bring food and snacks from home or convenience stores to share with everyone, and the players can relax and chat while waiting for their next turn to join a song.
While horn players, guitarists, and musicians with be bringing their own instruments, Somethin’ is equipped with some instruments for general use: a grand piano, upright and electric basses, a drum set, a vocal mic, and one or two extra guitars and amps. There is also a small library of jazz songbooks and fake books for in-house reference.
As with most free-form jam sessions, the amount of hands-on playing per person depends a lot on the number of people who are present and which instruments they play. Each student may be called to play many times or just a few times, and it all depends on the number of people who show up at that same time. In addition to instrumentalists, singers are also welcome. In general, though, instrumentalists seem to outnumber vocalists on most days.
Incidentally, this same Somethin’ jazz club also had a branch in New York once upon a time, but that spot closed many years ago. Also, Somethin’ was formerly called Miles’ Cafe in the past, and sometimes it is still referenced by that name by players who still remember those days.