RAM Jam
Partner: Dales Jam
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All images © Sam Atkins 2008
About this project
Project Background
Now in its 5th year, RAMJam was the brainchild of musical director Richard Ormrod, who wanted to create a junior community jazz ensemble to perform alongside Dales Jam, an established adult community jazz ensemble based in Skipton. With fantastic support from Dales Jam and the Victoria Theatre in Settle, the project consists of 12 weeks of workshops for young people aged 9 – 19 years old in the Settle and Ribblesdale area, ending with a gig at the Victoria Hall with Dales Jam and a special guest soloist.The project is open to all young musicians, whether they’ve been playing for five years or five weeks and it doesn’t matter what instrument you play – there’s room for everyone! Over the years the ensemble has included brass, wind, strings, guitars, accordions and a range of weird and wonderful percussion instruments, with everyone getting their chance to shine.
"What a great night RAM Jam was! We all wish to thank you for pulling this together and inspiring what turned out to be a superb experience for the participants and audience alike. Hope it will be repeated again and again!" - Parent
What was achieved?
Richard works to deliver a series of workshops and rehearsals aimed at teaching young participants about the dynamics of playing as an ensemble, with exciting opportunities to improvise, arrange, compose and perform."I enjoyed the whole thing, but I got a real buzz from playing on the night... it’s definitely opened my mind up to some new genres, I would love to start learning some more stuff like that... we should learn a funk song with a slap bass line" - Participant
Nationally and internationally- renowned guest artists for RAMJam gigs have included saxophonist Tim Garland, trombonist Mark Bassey, steel pan maestro Dudley Nesbitt and vibraphone virtuoso Corey Mwamba. The guest artist spends a full day with the RAMJammers, rehearsing for the gig, supporting them in improvising and trying out new riffs and chatting about their careers in music. It’s a great opportunity for young musicians to work with artists of this calibre and the end result is always an electrifying performance where all players get their moment in the spotlight with amazing improvised solos.
Repertoire includes ska, funk, soul, music from around the world and jazz classics, mixed up in a RAMJam style. The group (and Dales Jam) also now play pieces composed and arranged by some of the RAMJammers, demonstrating that not only are they fantastic performers but that they’re developing incredible composition skills too.
Several members of RAMJam now rehearse and perform with Dales Jam on a regular basis (with a couple persuading their parents to join too!) and have also gone on to form their own, smaller ensembles, proving that jazz is well and truly alive in the Yorkshire Dales.
RAMJam was the first time I ever played music with other people. It was a phenomenal experience to meet others who were interested in making music and particularly to meet new genres. It opened up a whole new world of playing jazz in ensembles.
Now I play in Ermysted's Big Band, Harrogate Youth Jazz Orchestra and even a jazz trio. I can sincerely say that it's thanks to RAMJam (not to mention the superb leadership of Richard Ormrod) that I began playing the guitar in earnest. Till then it was a hobby; something to do after homework and when there was nothing on the telly. But now it has become a passion and I can see myself doing it for the rest of my life.” - Participant