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Classic jazz lovers have a place to unite during the Sunday Jazz Jam.

The event is organized by the EQNX Jazztet and held from 5 to 7:30 p.m. every Sunday at Flatiron sa国际传媒官网网页入口, 6001 San Mateo Blvd. NE.

The EQNX Jazztet, which is pronounced Equinox, was taken over by Michael Metz after his friend left the band to accept a promotion at work. Metz plays trumpet and fl眉gelhorn in the jazztet. The band鈥檚 new lineup has been together for about a year now and is made up of Metz, Dan Kelly on saxophone, Vic Romanelli on guitar, Jamie Harrison on piano, Ian Davis on bass and Steve Arbuckle on drums.

Tone technique: Sunday Jazz Jam offers musicians a place to hone their skills

鈥淲e鈥檙e a jazz ensemble that plays a little bit of everything,鈥� Metz said. 鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 consider us normal, so to speak, if that makes sense. We do a little bit of everything. We play some originals. We play classic jazz. When I say classic, it鈥檚 the music of Duke Ellington, the music of Count Basie, the music of Herbie Hancock, the music of Miles Davis. But, we like to put our own little spin on it.鈥�

Jazz to Metz is a 鈥渓iving and breathing entity鈥� that requires everybody鈥檚 input.

鈥淵ou have two choices in this world, you can create music or you can regurgitate music,鈥� he said.

He added that his philosophy is if people want to hear a song the way it was originally recorded, then they can just put on the record and listen to it.

鈥淪o we try to make things different,鈥� Metz explained. 鈥淲e try to play things differently so that people want to listen to what our interpretation of the music is.鈥�

The EQNX Jazztet wants to share its love of classic jazz with others who embrace the music genre and put together the Sunday Jazz Jam where other musicians could sit in with the jazztet. The EQNX Jazztet performs the first hour of the jam and tries to select jazz tunes that people have not heard or do not hear that often, including originals. After the jazztet wraps up its set, it invites other musicians to the stage.

鈥淚t all kind of depends on how many musicians there are,鈥� Metz said. 鈥淚f I鈥檝e got five drummers who are there waiting to play, well, they鈥檙e only going to play maybe two songs. Whereas this last Sunday, I had two drummers, and so they basically split (their time performing). They both played about 30 minutes worth of music. So it all depends on who shows up and what kind of musicians and how many. Last Sunday, I had seven vocalists who wanted to sing. So, it鈥檚 a matter of trying to explain to everybody, 鈥榃e鈥檙e going to start with one song each, then I will get everybody up again for a second song.鈥� It鈥檚 a balancing act, trying to make sure the musicians are aware of what we do.鈥�

Metz said the jam session is different from an open mic event in that it is not just a singer-songwriter with a guitar playing original music, but an entire band to play along with.

鈥淲e try to focus on giving everybody an opportunity to play jazz,鈥� he explained. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the reason why we do it. We are a jazz ensemble. We want to help people learn how to play jazz and just like anything else, if you don鈥檛 learn to play with other people, you don鈥檛 learn how to improvise鈥�

Metz said the goal of the jam session is to get people of all skill levels to come out and play the music of classic jazz greats and sharpen their playing skills.

鈥淵ou can go on YouTube and you can find backing tracks, but that doesn鈥檛 help with (playing) jazz,鈥� he explained. 鈥淛azz is unique because it鈥檚 interaction. If you listen to a lot of jazz, you鈥檒l hear the musicians will interact with each other ... And that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e trying to facilitate is give people an opportunity to play with musicians they don鈥檛 normally play with and learn how to interact.鈥�