The New Jersey Jazz Society occasionally receives donations of musical instruments, and we give them to the Paterson Music Project, which serves 500 music students in the city of Paterson, NJ, providing access to a high-quality music education. The PMP is a tuition-free program that receives funding from a variety of sources.
Founded in 2013 as a traditional strings and band program, PMP diversified in 2022 to include a jazz improvisation class on Saturdays for its most advanced students, who now play in its PMP Jazz Collective, performing around the city at events and sometimes as an opening act at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center.
In October 2023, PMP began new jazz programs at two Paterson schools — New Roberto Clemente School and School 6. The students in these programs represent about 100 of PMP’s 500 students, and according to Sam Tobias, Jazz Program Coordinator, “We really took off this year. Many students were new to their instruments as of this year but progressed quickly and enthusiastically. Our students performed music representing the wide variety of styles that jazz has to offer, from the early swing styles of a New Orleans second line to legends like (John) Coltrane and Miles (Davis). Many students at these two schools have family backgrounds from the Dominican Republic. We created space for them to explore their Caribbean heritage through the study of Latin jazz and mambos.
Recently, several NJJS Board members dropped off the latest batch of donated instruments to PMP. Said Tobias: “A heartfelt thank you to the New Jersey Jazz Society for its generous donation of woodwind and brass instruments! Your support brings the joy of music to our young students (photo above), and we’re excited to see them shining on these horns!
The Paterson Music Project is a program of Wharton Arts, a Berkeley Heights, NJ-based non-profit performing arts education center. PMP welcomes adult and high school age volunteers for their events. For more information, contact Sam Tobias at sam.tobias@whartonarts.org.