St. Olaf offers an increasing number of opportunities for students to experience and even experiment with musical (jazz) improvisation, one of which is the Pauseıs Thursday Night Jazz.

Last weekıs jazz night in the Pause featured The Black Dots but was specifically designated as a jam session, open to anyone who wanted to play or sing.

The Black Dots is one of two student-run jazz bands on campus. Its members are Dan Cavanagh on piano; Graham Martin on trumpet; Grant Riewe on saxophone; Nate Wallace on bass; and Alex Oftelie on drums.

Crowds for these weeknight concerts are typically small, consisting of a core group of loyal jazz supporters. Over the course of the evening, however, the musicians estimate that up to 150 people wander in and out.

As Cavanagh points out, the jazz music creates a great ambience for studying or just hanging out. The music is kept at a reasonable volume that allows for conversation, and the setting is very informal. Students are free to come and go as they like. These are also usually not CAP fee events, so the Northfield community and Carls are also invited to attend, free of charge.

Thursday Night Jazz is only one part of Jazz Band Director Dave Hagedorn and Alex Oftelieıs bigger strategy to promote jazz music on campus. Under the direction of Rusty Zaspel, the concert organizer for the Pause, they are also working to bring in professional jazz groups from the Cities. Zona attracted a fair number of people on Oct. 6th, and Hagedorn and Oftelie hope to bring in other local groups such as Happy Apple, The Phil Hey Quartet, FKG, and Motion Poets.

Another of Hagedornıs and Oftelieıs goals is to bring in one national professional group per semester. This semesterıs jazz event will take place in the Pause on Friday, November 10th. St. Olafıs guest will be internationally-recognized pianist Armen Denealsonıs trio from New York City, which also includes a bass player and a drummer.

Hoping to leave behind the beginnings of a jazz tradition at St. Olaf when he graduates, this year Oftelie began a second student-run jazz group to complement the older and already well-established combo of The Black Dots. Its members have chosen for themselves the very controversial name "The Stoned Limes." They are Austin Mayhew on saxophone; Matt Pearson on bass; Justin Seningen on guitar; and Alex Oftelie on drums.

The next Thursday Night Jazz in the Pause is scheduled for Nov. 2nd, right after fall break, and will feature the Faculty Jazz Combo: Dave Hagedorn on vibraphone; Kevin Clements on bass; Scott Kallestad on saxophone; and Marty Hodel on trumpet.

With the exception of Clements, who is a professional jazz musician from the Cities, all the members of the faculty jazz combo are music professors of St. Olaf. For this particular concert, Alex Oftelie will be joining them on the drums.

When questioned about the importance of his and Hagedornıs scheme for promoting jazz and their motivation behind it, Oftelie responded, "St. Olaf has a really rich musical tradition of European classical and chorale music. Weıre hoping to expose the campus to Americaıs classical music, which is jazz."