jazz at joe's

With  over 90  jazz performances since 2007, Jazz at Joe's continues to bring top quality regional and national standard jazz artists to perform in beautiful Bend, Oregon.

Jazz at Joe's was founded by Joe Rohrbacher of Just Joe's Music.  A little over 17 years ago, he launched Jazz at Joe's in his music showroom with an invited audience of 24.

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"In the beginning, we started the jazz series as a way to help introduce students in our community to professional musicians, performances, and clinics.  Most of these efforts took place in the Just Joe's Music store, and some at local schools.  We worked like heck for a couple of years, exploring a variety of different approaches, none as successful as we would have hoped.  We then put all that aside and moved the series to CTC's Greenwood Playhouse.  And, thanks to our student sponsors, we made free seats available to any students and accompanying parents that wanted to attend.  That worked better, but we still did not have the anticipated student participation.  I overlooked competing interests such as family work schedules, transportation, etc. (Most middle school students don't drive :))

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It dawned on me that we really needed to step back and apply our efforts to an even bigger need.  You will probably not be surprised to know that, due to family economics and school budgets, there is a disproportionate amount of students within our community that want to participate, or even stay participating in band or orchestra, but are unable to do so; we simply can't let this happen.

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I want you to know that most of the proceeds from a successful evening at Jazz at Joe's are set aside for those students that require a little assistance.  Our jazz community has helped provide a variety of essential items such as reeds, strings, method books, etc., in addition to occasional horn repairs, and help with monthly instrument rental fees.  I manage these needs on a case-by-case basis, utilizing my personal experiences with families and some input from local educators.  I do not publicize or try to attract any attention, as I know the need is more than we can manage.

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Please know that your continued attendance at the shows and help in spreading the word about our series is more than I can ask. It most certainly "takes a village", and our village has made a difference."

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Thank you.

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Joe

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