Vandoren celebrates jazz!
The Vandojam, what is it?
It is organized regularly in a jazz club, in France and abroad, and is divided into two stages:
– A first “concert” part which honors Vandoren artists accompanied by a rhythmic session
– A second part “jam session”, which is open to all musicians who wish to come and play with our artists.
Each Vandojam is dedicated to a particular jazz theme and is led by a Vandoren artist.
Parisian beginnings
In 2002, the first Vandojams were organized every first Thursday of the month in Paris, at the “Autour de minuit” club, located in Montmartre, near the historic address of the legendary showroom at 56 rue Lepic.
From 2004, it takes place at the “Sunset Sunside” jazz club, located in rue Lombards, in the heart of Parisian jazz life. This is the start of a long collaboration.
Animated since its beginnings by Michael Cheret, Vandoren artist, the Vandojam aims to be universal: it is a good compromise bringing together both professionals and amateurs around a common passion.
The Vandojam in the USA and worldwide
From 2004, as a very successful event in France, the Vandojam expanded in New York. After having taken place at the very electronic “Knitting Factory” club in its early days, the Vandojam and its leader Mark Gross moved to the Iguana.
This restaurant, located in front of the New York showroom (Vandoren Musician’s Advisory Studio) quickly proved to be the ideal address for the monthly event. The musical quality of the Vandojam is quickly recognized worldwide. To date, many other cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles, Amsterdam, London, Mexico City, Berlin, Brussels, Oslo, Montreal and Lyon have been able to benefit from it.
“Here in Chicago, our jazz is very rich, very mixed. There is a very active salsa movement and there is also post-modern, post-Coltrane jazz, a new type of bop that we call neo-bop. believe that we managed to mix the two during our first Vandojams and that's unique in the world. The communities mixed and the public really loved it!"
