Ive read/heard about the Slow Jam, but I don get it. Whats the point of playing things slowly?
There is a tendency for inexperienced klezmorim to play tunes too fast, and this tendency somehow gets magnified exponentially when you put a bunch of such players together in a jam session. Though “jamming” (a jazz term) was never really historically part of the klezmer tradition, we came up with the idea of the “Slow Jam” as a way to help beginning students achieve a deeper insight into the playing of the music offering it as an option in the free hour before dinner. The Slow Jam is a “protected” space in which players who are less steady can gain some much needed experience playing with others. The presence of a staff member insures that the tempos remain moderate, and the material played has been carefully selected to sound musical (and good) at those speeds. It also covers the spectrum of dance forms, so that students can experience something of the variety of material that is available to play as they gain confidence and skill. Over the years we’ve found that these sessions are a
