MARION — The Marion Art Center’s Jazz Jam concert replicates historical American jazz sessions, introducing a style of rapid improvisation to theTri-town, according to Phil Sanborn, the event organizer and music director of the Tri-County Symphonic Band. 

The concert allows local musicians to improvise with others they have never played with, similar to how jazz was played in 1920s America. 

At the beginning of each set Sanborn, chooses the jazz standard that the musicians will play. 

Sanborn then hand picks musicians to join the set depending on their skills and what the jazz standard calls for. They then join the melody and each play an improvised solo.

Standards by artists like Thelonious Monk were played alongside “The Girl from Ipanema” by Antônio Carlos Jobim and “Satin Doll” by Duke Ellington.

Joan Gardener, an audience member from Marion, said “I was surprised these people didn't know each other and played so well together tonight.”

Heather Corrigan, the program director at the Marion Art Center, loves that events like this “allows people to try something that they maybe haven't heard of before [and] to come together within their community…”

Sarah Fernandes from New Bedford, a young percussionist, was honored to jam with the other musicians. 

“It's honestly a privilege to be able to play,” she said. “These guys have been playing for however long, so it's nice to be able to exchange ideas and collaborate with them as well.”

The two-hour show served as an expression of education and storytelling through music. 

“No two people here tonight were probably hearing the exact same thing,” stated pianist Matt Richard of Fairfield. “Everybody hears the music differently, and if they can sit and listen and kind of come up with their own story.”