For listeners
Please join us for a relaxed and diverse evening of jazz with house band Southdown Jazz Collective and plenty of guest jammers at the monthly jazz jam that we organise. Since mid-2023, our usual venue has been The Queens Head Pub in Harpenden, on the last Thursday of the month. Our second home is Elliswick Lawn Tennis Club, which has a great club room and cheap bar! ELTC is a members' club, but a few of us are ELTC members, so when we're playing up at the tennis club just turn up and ask for Dave or Tim and we'll be happy to guest you. All music lovers are very welcome and entry is free!
As well as enjoying a blend of jazz standards, blues, soul jazz and funk, played by the some of the hottest jazz musicians from Harpenden and the surrounding area, you can expect lots of smiles and friendly chat with those involved. If there's a tune you'd particularly like to hear, drop us a line in advance and we'll see what we can do. If it's a jazz standard we can probably pull something out of the bag! Occasionally a listener's suggestion has inspired us to write out a score especially, if it's been something that we like the idea of.
This website is our main means of sharing information and news, so please check regularly for updates about the jams and other events that Southdown Jazz Collective is involved with. If you do social media, we also have a Facebook page, where you can "like" us and (algorhythms permitting) get updates pushed to your timeline. We also promote our events on the Harpenden Network. So far we've not gone so far as to push updates via email, but if you'd like this, get in touch - if there's enough interest, that's something we could look at setting up.
For jammers
New jammers are always welcome! Feel free just to turn up on the night, or if you like contact us in advance with any questions you have. We have a WhatsApp group for the jam where musicians can be in contact and make arrangements for music to play. If you're an instrumentalist or singer and would like to get involved in the online conversation, send us your mob number and a bit of info about yourself (esp. what instrument and/or if you are a vocalist), and we'll be happy to add you to the chat.
Above all, the jazz jam is an inclusive event! It helps to be able to read a lead sheet (mostly from the Real Book) and/or work from chord charts, such as in the iRealPro app, which many of us use, but we can always find a way of getting you involved, even if you're not a confident improviser - we all had to start somewhere! We are also building up a library of less-standard tunes in a volume we call "Das Buch". Once you've been added to the planning chat, we'll be happy to give you some help with your prep and give you access to the latest scores and iReal lists we've been working on at SJC HQ.
On the night, the house band will usually play for around 45 mins, then the jamming starts and goes for about an hour and a half, before the house band return to finish the evening. Timings depend a bit on the numbers of jammers that turn up. When you arrive, please fill in the sign-in sheet that will be doing the rounds on a nice rainbow-coloured clipboard, so we can work out some jamming combinations and make sure that everyone who wants to play or sing gets a go. IMPORTANTLY, please bring your own instrument unless sharing has been prearranged (amps and drum kit are provided generously by the house band). If you're using someone else's gear, being the lovely, respectful person you are, you'll of course treat it with the utmost care!
