MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) — While evenings at Madison’s Cafe Coda jazz club belong to professional musicians, Saturday mornings are for kids who want to learn about jazz from a jazz master–club owner and musician Hanah Jon Taylor.
Jazz musician Hanah Jon Taylor mentors budding young jazz musicians at Cafe Coda’s Cool School in Madison.
Taylor has traveled the world performing as a jazz saxophonist and flutist. Every Saturday morning, he mentors kids in the art of jazz improvisation. It’s free, and students don’t even have to own an instrument.
On a recent Saturday morning, Taylor encouraged students to “investigate their musical creativity”, simply playing from the heart, and from the soul–not using music….just improvising.
Taylor said, “Our whole thing is to encourage creativity through music…and to introduce music as a language. I believe that music will be an avid part of saving the world…and if we can keep our kids involved with it, then our ability to communicate and connect with each other becomes more of a possibility. “
One student, a drummer named Evan said, “He’s one heck of a teacher, I’ll tell you that. He explains things in a way that’s different, but almost necessary to learn. I might not have learned it without him.”
At one point, Taylor asked a student to jump up and jump down off a stool a number of times. He then said to the student musician, “Do you feel it? Okay, then, now play it. Taylor looked at the rest of the group and said, “This is called the “Jump Up, Jump Down Feeling in F”…at which point all of the musicians started playing an improvised jazz tune together.
About Cool School and jazz, young piano player Liam said enthusiastically, “It’s awesome! No one can say it isn’t!”
For more than a year when he was younger, life played a cruel trick on Taylor–a man for whom jazz is life. More on that and Cool School on John Stofflet’s special Making a Difference report tonight, only on NBC15 News at 10.
Cool School charges no tuition. It relies on donations to keep going and to provide instruments for students who don’t have them.
You can access the GoFundMe page here.
You can access the Cool School Facebook Page here.
You can access the website of Cafe Coda here.