By Okon Ekpenyong

Preserving the legacy of jazz and music requires finding different alternatives to keep that creativity alive, whether through art, technology, or Science. This year’s Jazz Lab Summer Experience camp at Fort Hayes Education Center did just that, focusing on preserving that tradition by involving over 250 youth from Ethiopian Tewahedo Social Services, showing them how it is done through learning, creating, and vibing with different tools to make it a reality. 

Stepping into the camp to observe, I was immediately struck by the various activities. A virtual reality room, a composing room where campers learned to craft beats using cutting-edge software, and a design room that harnessed AI to spark innovative ideas.

The campers were also allowed to create 3D models with AI and learn to play various international drums. The possibilities were endless, and I couldn’t help but feel excitement and curiosity. It was like being a kid again, filled with wonder at the world of music and technology. 

The Jazz Lab Summer Experience was a three-week camp where campers explored VR music-making, DJ’ing, coding for music art, and percussion. They delved into beat-making and audio storytelling through the Virturealty and Jazzfab lab, learned Caribbean drum rhythms from Trinidad, Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, and Puerto Rico, and engaged in Afro Futuristic Studio activities. Additionally, they participated in Remix the Code, using Python in music production, and utilized The Arts Collaboratory to apply their learning creatively.

Although it was campers from ETTS this time, A Tribe for Jazz, which organizes the camp through the city of Columbus Summer Youth Grant, has been around for a while. The organization caters to youths aged 5 to 17, collaborating with various schools and organizations throughout Central to bring STEM innovation to life for the young participants,” said Stephanie Matthews, Executive Director of A Tribe for Jazz. Participants from 14 other organizations also participated in this year’s summer experience. 

Local students from Liberty Elementary, who are part of the Center Without Walls (CWOW) outreach program, are among those who benefited from this innovative workshop in the past. The impact of the camp extends beyond the students, reaching into the heart of the community. CWOW also partners with Wedgewood Middle School, Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Ohio, and Brown Girls Mentoring, among others, to bring the transformative power of music and technology to the Youth of Columbus.

This year, the organization also hosted the Otterbein Summer Music Camp, a program aimed at empowering young musicians, at Ottbein University between June 9-14. The camp offered a range of activities, including private lessons, music history classes, improvisation workshops, performance improvement sessions, music theory lessons, digital music creation, and musician warm-up exercises. A total of 10 Columbus School students participated in this enriching experience, gaining valuable skills and knowledge in music. 

This space is a melting pot of creativity for these young people from diverse faith backgrounds, nationalities, and talents. It’s a place where they can learn from industry best practices and innovators, and their creative minds can learn from their peers and inspire each other. This diversity is not just a feature of the camp; it’s a strength, leading to a rich tapestry of discovery and learning.

This summer, Jazz Laz Summer Experience Team & Labs were: 

• Dr. Valeri Aveni and Terrell Carter, COSI-Virtual Realty 
• Nathan Harris, Ph.D; See Brilliance- Afro-Futuristic Studio 
• Eric “The Fish” Paton- Congo Drumming: Ancient Rhythms of the Caribbean 
• Lumarie Conte- The Arts Collabor-a-Torium 
• Iddrisu Seidu, Makerspace Central-Jazz Fab Lab
• Raymond Brooks, OSU Innovation Studio-Jazzfab Lab 
• Otis Sharp, Fresh Elements- The Art of the Sample: Vinyl to Digital 
• Kaleem Usa, GOOROO-Remix the Code: Music-Making with EarSketch 

Upon the completion of the camp, the campers between the ages of 5 and 10 participated in a brief survey asking them how they felt about the labs of the day, whether they would do it again, and which activity or part of the camp was their favorite. They were also asked to name a career field they remembered from the labs, hoping it would spark their interest in the future in the field they recalled. 

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