The Miles Davis Quintet: Doxy

Sunday is jazz day, and today’s post is part of my Intro to Jazz series. Once you get a basic understanding of jazz, and hopefully realize that the Faux household’s belief that

is true😉, it is time to go see some live jazz. The most obvious way to do this, and what you may immediately think is the thing to do, is to see if there is any live jazz coming to a concert venue in your area. If you live anywhere near a city of over 100,000 people, there are probably some live jazz concerts you can attend during 2025. Some of these may be National tours of major label artists and some may be festivals with dozens of small and large jazz acts. If that is your thing, and you have the money to spend, then go for it! I can’t think of a better way to spend a Spring time evening than sitting out on a venue lawn and listening to some live jazz. However, I’m going to suggest that a much better start to your live jazz experience is not spending a bunch of money to do so. Instead, go to a jazz jam session.

What is a jam session? Simply put, a jam session is when a bunch of jazz musicians get together and perform jazz. Although some jazz jams are run by pretentious a-holes who don’t allow all the musician’s to participate, most are a mix of performers from high-school to professional level. If you are familiar with the concept of an open mic night where people can sing their songs on their guitar, recite poetry, or lay down experimental performance art, then you get the picture. The difference is that at a jazz jam session, the performers take turns playing together. They don’t go in with a set list. They simply talk to each other for a minute to figure out a tune that they all know (or can look up quickly on their phone’s Fakebook app) and then they play it. There is usually a house band to provide a drummer, bassist, and piano player (and the drums and piano), but anyone is allowed to play whatever instrument they bring with them. If some drummers or pianists show up, then they take turns so everyone plays. If no bass player shows up, then the house band bassist is stuck playing for 2 hours. But, no matter who shows up, the end result is the same. Live jazz, sometimes just okay, sometimes wonderful, and always fun.

How do I find a jazz jam session? Do a Google search for a jazz jam session at some small location nearby. These sessions should be free (or very cheap) and are usually held at local bars, restaurants, or clubs. I just googled “jazz jam session CITY NAME” for about a dozen cities around the country and all of these searches provided links to jam sessions that I could attend this week if I was there. If you’ve read this far, you might as well just do it. You can go alone, you can invite a friend, you can sometimes take your kids. I promise that it will be fun. And don’t worry – you don’t have to be a musician to attend. Sadly, many of these sessions are attended only by the musicians, but I promise you that those musicians all want to have an audience there to listen, react, and feed their energy.

Why should you go to a jazz jam session? One obvious answer for anyone, whether they want to listen to jazz or not, is that these jam sessions usually occur at places where people normally gather for a night out. Going to a jazz jam session is a good night out for anyone. More importantly, from the perspective of my Intro to Jazz Series, this is the best way to start to put your basic understanding of jazz into a real-world context. If you have read my posts, then you now know that jazz is not scary. You know the basics of the instruments and what they are doing. You know a little bit about how to listen to the music. Most importantly, you know that there are tunes called standards, and these are a lot of the tunes you are going to hear at the jam session. And the more you do this, the more you will recognize the standards. Don’t be afraid to sit near the music. Don’t be afraid to talk to the musicians after they have played a tune, especially if you liked the tune and want to know what it is. Jazz musicians are people, and most jazz musicians at a jam session are people like you. They probably have a day job and go to the jam session because they love the music and love to play it. If you see one of them playing an instrument with which you aren’t as familiar, for example a vibraphone, baritone sax, flute, or clarinet, talk to them about it. Basically, ask questions and get involved. How long have they been playing? When did they start to learn their specific instrument? If they are young, ask them if they are studying in school? Where are they studying? Tell them you liked their solo. Tell them you liked the tune. Tell them you are learning about jazz and simply grateful that they are providing this experience for you. I can’t promise that all of them will be friendly (as I said, they are normal people), but most of them will go home feeling thankful if someone was to tell them that what they are doing is meaningful in their life.

If there is one main theme that I hope I have presented after years of writing this blog, it is that music connects all of us – all ages, all ethnicities, all political beliefs, all genders, all religions, all people from all over the globe. And, I believe that jazz is the music that connects us all more than any other. So, if you are able, go to a jazz jam session and become a tangible piece of this musical connection.

Today’s song selection is “Doxy” by Sonny Rollins. It is one of the most common songs you will hear at a jam session. It was originally performed on a 10″ EP by Miles Davis and Sonny Rollins in 1954, and then recorded by The Miles Davis Quintet (Davis – trumpet, Sonny Rollins – tenor sax, Horace Silver – piano, Percy Heath – bass, Kenny Clarke – drums) on the 1957 album Bags’ Groove (if you’ve read this far, and don’t know this release, that sounds like some pretty awesome listening homework😊). Since then, “Doxy” has been recorded by hundreds (if not thousands) of jazz musicians. I would bet that it has been played by millions of people, from middle school students to Grammy winning musicians. Once you hear the head of this tune, you will never forget it.

To listen to all of the songs of the day, check out the Radio Faux Show Song of the Day playlist.

• Intro to Jazz
• Sunday Jazz