Making Jazz at Princeton, From a Newcomer’s Perspective

When I first auditioned for the jazz program in September, I felt intimidated. I grew up playing classical violin and singing pop, so the world of jazz was uncharted musical territory. That’s probably why I was shaking while waiting outside the Effron jazz studio for my audition, running a vocal rendition of “Strasbourg St. Denis” by Roy Hargrove in my head.

At the time, I had no idea what head arrangements or rhythm changes were. Nearly six months later, I’m coming out of the rush of performing at the 2025 Princeton Jazz Festival in April, which marked Jazz at Princeton’s 50th anniversary.

The festival is surrounded by a bubbling creativity as acclaimed jazz artists step on campus to play alongside students at Richardson Hall, in front of packed audiences of alumni and community members.

For the past semester, I’ve been working on pieces by active jazz artists such as Roxy Coss and Etienne Charles. The jazz program offers a personalized experience. For example, the music was tailored specifically to the instrumentation of the ensemble. Oftentimes vocalists can feel quite separate from the band in jazz, simply singing at the start and end of a tune. However, I found myself singing and blending with a horn section for the first time and improvising over chords I wouldn’t have been able to decipher a year ago, thanks to the guidance of my faculty bandleader, Ted Chubb.

It turns out this tailoring and expansion of the program was a part of Rudresh Mahanthappa’s vision as director of jazz. “When I got here, I got the feeling that the program was more suited for people who already played at a high level,” said Mahanthappa, who started his position in 2017. “If you missed the cut, as a freshman, oftentimes that freshman doesn’t come back and re-audition next year. They kind of disappear. So, it’s about trying to find ways of keeping people engaged and active.”

The jazz program originally had two faculty-led small groups, the big-band style Creative Large Ensemble, and the Jazz Vocal Ensemble. It has since expanded to four small groups. Outside of the performance program, there are academic course offerings, which range from jazz history to improvisation techniques. Previously, the only avenues for improvement were paid or subsidized private lessons.

The Princeton Jazz Festival is also a tradition created by Mahanthappa, inviting guest artists to collaborate with student ensembles starting in 2019. My group, Small Group X, was set up to play tunes and arrangements by Coss, a Grammy-winning saxophonist and composer.

Before a rehearsal, we went for dinner with Coss at The Dinky Bar & Kitchen across from McCarter Theatre. What I expected to be a moment of mentorship alongside crispy brussels sprouts became a surprisingly reflective conversation about the intricacies of jazz culture, its ties to American history and Black American music, and what that means for modern audiences.

“It’s not just ‘what does it sound like?’ You can’t play jazz authentically without talking about the meaning behind the notes,” Coss said later, recalling the dinner conversation. “Everyone at that table is coming from a different major, from a different place, from different perspectives.”

These intellectual dialogues felt like they gave a distinctly Princeton flavor to the music making process. As a sociology major, the conversations resonated with me, showing how historical-societal patterns have shaped public perceptions of jazz. As we kept munching and chatting, we jumped down rabbit holes exploring tensions between jazz artists’ intentions and audience expectations, or the role of women in the genre.

In moments like these, I realize that engaging with music isn’t just about playing, it’s also about understanding. Maybe I can’t sing rhythm changes in 12 keys — yet — but it’s special to be at a place where I can ponder why the notes matter.