Did you know that we have County Jazz Groups for all abilities? We have groups for beginners, intermediate and advanced. We encourage all types of instruments, including strings, brass, woodwind and percussion.
All the groups provide a fun environment to be creative, learn some great tunes and encourage…
- playing by ear
- confidence to improvise
- help you to learn from each other.
Essex Junior Jazz is for those who are playing at Grade 1 standard and want to find out more ways to have fun improving their playing technique, ensemble playing through the genre of jazz.
Young Essex Jazz is for those who are playing at Grade 3 and above and already have some interest and/or experience in playing jazz.
Essex Youth Jazz Small Bands are selected from Essex Youth Jazz Orchestra’s most advanced players learning the subtleties of playing Jazz in a small group.
Parents from Young Essex Jazz have recently said….“We like that our daughter gets to learn another aspect of bass, to perform and have a conductor who played bass and is passionate about jazz.”
“Jazz has been wonderful for my two children, encouraging them to improvise, play by ear and listen to others. It’s been a great great social activity for them, too, and has increased their confidence in performing and playing with other musicians.”
Paul Moylan directs both Essex Junior Jazz and Young Essex Jazz.
Our flagship jazz group is the Essex Youth Jazz Orchestra which perform all over Essex in Churches, jazz clubs and studios, plus they go on a European Tour biannually. The jazz orchestra is for the more experienced player who plays are at Grade 5 standard and above and have a love of jazz music.
Martin Hathaway who directs the orchestra said “The jazz groups play a wide range of music, developing a range of skills, including performing, creating, spontaneity, ensemble skills. And it is all a lot of fun – great music, great young people’.”
