Caleb RossieAre you looking for something to do near campus on Thursday nights? You may want to drop in at Missy Lane’s Assembly Room for jazz and cocktails at the Eagle Nest Jam.
Cool jazz filled the low lit hall of Missy Lane’s in Downtown Durham Thursday when N.C. Central University’s students and faculty gathered to jam and entertain the public.
With a $10 entry fee, the jam occurs every Thursday at 7:30 p.m., always at Missy Lane’s. It features different performers every week who are students or instructors from NCCU’s music program.
Thomas Taylor, an NCCU lecturer who teaches drums and played on a recent Thursday, said that he would love for people to know “it exists.”
“People always say, ‘we didn’t know,’” Taylor said. “So we are always trying to figure out how to get people to know.”
The venue, Missy Lane’s, is on 310 E. Main St. downtown Durham. It hosts the event in a partnership with NCCU’s music program. Taylor said that the profits are split between the music program and the bar.
For musicians such as bass player and NCCU graduate David Wintermute, the jam can be a great opportunity to play with various instructors as well as other musicians from outside of NCCU’s program.
“You get to play with such tremendous musicians…” Wintermute said. “You get to collaborate with teachers who have studied this for so many decades, and really in depth.”
“They know a lot about the music and they play really, really, extremely well.”
For students and members of the public, it’s something unique to do, as well as a great way to support fellow students and instructors from the university.
“The next upcoming weeks will either be undergraduate or graduate [drum] students,” Taylor explained. “Sometimes you might see the faculty bass teacher, faculty piano, or sax as well.”
“Yeah, it’s a cool spot,” Wintermute added. “I think if younger people that were open to kind of learn about jazz. If they gave it a chance to listen to it, to give it like—Because I don’t know what people do, they go out to a movie, or they go out to a trap concert or something like that, or go out to a rave.”
“If you’re in college [aged] 18-23, this could be cool too, y’know?”
For Wintermute, the opportunity to play with all different instructors is invaluable. But more than anything, seeing peers from the university come out would be a huge positive for him.
“I think they’d [students] appreciate it,” Wintermute said. “It’s a healthy spot and you get to appreciate your peers and music, and it’s really fun.”
Wintermute got to play with two outside instructors on Thursday. One was a pianist from Duke University, the other a guitar player and instructor who taught previously at NCCU.
Wintermute paused the interview to ask the guitar player a few questions before the guy left, knowing he may not be able to see him again for a while.
After everyone had left, Wintermute also had a confession to make. He had ripped his pants at the very start of the show!
The seam was torn right down the back of his pants and was quite easy to see once pointed out. He leaned against the piano, kept himself completely cool, and played on throughout the entire night. Nothing was going to stop him from jamming with his fellow performers that night!
