New!! Sunday Jazz Jam Sessions
at ballet tech cincinnati
3rd Sunday of each month
6-9 PM

The Jam Sessions, held the third Sunday of each month from 6-9 PM, are open to the public, and offer a unique opportunity for jazz musicians of all ages and skill levels. Musicians can participate as performers or simply observe skilled jazz musicians in action. Also, audience members can enjoy great jazz music from a variety of performers in a relaxed, family oriented, smoke-free/alcohol free environment! The house band consists of the trombonist Professor Spira (a.k.a. N. Michael Goecke), drummer Brother Air (a.k.a. Willie Smart), bassist Eddie Brookshire, and saxophonist/keyboardist Ryan Wells (Daktehu). $5 entry. Refreshments will be for sale

See the Jazz Jam photo gallery!

N. Michael Goecke (a.k.a. Professor Spira)

N. Michael Goecke (a.k.a. Professor Spira) is one of the most exciting young jazz trombonist and music educators living in the Cincinnati area. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree in jazz trombone performance (cum laude) from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and is the first African-American trombonist in the Conservatory’s history to earn a Master of Music degree in jazz studies (summa cum laude). He is currently a professor of music and black studies at Northern Kentucky University where he teaches “Survey of African-American Music," “Music of World Cultures,” and has created a course entitled "The Power of Black Sacred Music." Under the pseudonym Professor Spira, Goecke co-leads an all-vegetarian and Breathehretist jazz organization entitled the Breathairean Ensemble whose mission is to promote health awareness to the community through music (visit www.breathairmusic.com). Goecke is also the featured trombonist and percussionist for the Columbus based latin-bebop group Afro-Rican Ensemble led by Rolando Matías. As a member of the ensemble Goecke has had the opportunity to perform with many notable musicians including the steel drum virtuoso Othello Molineaux, Grammy Award nominee trumpeter Ray Vega, and the Grammy Award winning jazz trumpeter Brian Lynch. Goecke views himself as a 21st century African-American griot and he strives to learn and promulgate the history of his people's music/art to the world community and lead a lifestyle that is fitting of a spiritual music leader.

Willie Smart (a.k.a. Brother Air)

Willie Smart (a.k.a. Brother Air) is a drummer and percussionist from Cincinnati, OH. During his long musical career Smart has traveled across the globe sharing a countless number of musical experiences with some of the world's greatest musicians, but today you will never see him perform in a bar. Frustrated with filthy bars and a suffering music scene, Smart decided to take his art to the streets where he developed his legendary Hand-drum Rig and famous V=P-O rhythm. Smart is an extremely health conscious musician and his life and family revolve around the practice of Arnold Ehret's Mucusless Diet Healing System. Today Smart can be seen across the country buskering and evangelizing the Mucusless Diet with his son, Haneef. Air’s ultimate goal is to open a sanitarium to teach fasting, mucusless diet, and the importance of the lemon enema/colonic. Also, under the pseudonym Brother Air, Smart co-leads an all-vegetarian and Breathehretist jazz organization entitled the Breathairean Ensemble whose mission is to promote health awareness to the community through music (visit www.breathairmusic.com).

Eddie Brookshire

Eddie Brookshire is one of the most dynamic and in demand bass players and jazz educators in the Cincinnati/Dayton area. He grew up in Carthage, Mississippi where he began to play the bass at the age of 21. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree in jazz studies from Central University in Ohio and a Master of Music degree in world music studies from Northern Illinois. He is a professor of jazz bass, improvisation, and jazz combos at the University of Dayton and Sinclair College. He is music scholar with several publications and a very active member of the International Association of Jazz Educators as well as the African-American Jazz Caucus and Big Band. For many years Brookshire has traveled the globe playing with some of the most prominent jazz artist in the world, such as: J. McShan, Snooky Young, Woody Shaw, Johnny Lytle, James Newton, Sondra Reeves-Phillips, Nathan Davis, Piney Brown, Rusty Bryant, Billy Harper, Benny Maupin, Azar Lawrence, David “Fathead” Newman, Dave Fielder, the Coasters, and in 2000 he played with his all time favorite Elvin Jones. Eddie filled in for Jones’s bass player, whose plane was delayed, and Jones decided to offer Eddie the bass spot in his group. Eddie respectfully declined to avoid the drastic lifestyle change that constantly traveling or moving to New York would entail. Eddie is also the bassist for the all-vegetarian and Breathehretist jazz organization entitled the Breathairean Ensemble and he says that music is his "spiritual calling."

Ryan Wells (a.k.a. Daktehu) is one of the most creative jazz saxophonists and pianists on the scene today. He has studied jazz saxophone and music education at Miami University (Oxford) as well as the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and also has had the opportunity to perform professionally with many great jazz artists. He is a member of the all-vegetarian and Breathehretist jazz organization entitled the Breathairean Ensemble and is a diligent practitioner and educator of Arnold Ehret's Mucusless Diet Healing System (visit www.breathairmusic.com). His remarkable musical journey parallels his personal pursuits toward superior health and he believes that his music is the expression of this noble voyage.