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Registration is now closed for 2023.  Stay tuned for details about the next Big Band Jam

COLLEGIATE JAZZ JAM! 

 

The Collegiate Jazz JAM!’s mission is to preserve and promote the idiom of the big band’s contribution to the musical fabric of America via a one-day competition every April during “Jazz Appreciation Month”. Since its inception we have attracted colleges and universities as diverse as Berklee College (Boston), Brubeck Institute (California), University of North Texas (Denton) and throughout the greater Washington metropolitan area. Our principal adjudication partner is the DC Federation of Musicians’ union members who judge these schools using a professional scale to determine the winner. The schools perform forty (40)-minute sets based upon pre-selected charts from a compositional theme that is distributed prior to the competition. The competition  will coincide with the last weekend of the month in April, the winner will perform alongside the visiting military ensemble, and also at Blues Alley on the following Monday. The winner will be allowed to record their performance at Blues Alley, will receive a Blues Alley statuette commemorating their accomplishment and receive an award of a One thousand dollar honorarium.

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WINNER will receive:

  • $1,000 Honorarium

  • Blues Alley Statuette

  • Blues Alley Performance on the following Monday Night

  • Recording of their Performance

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