Photo by Sophia Trifoli

When walking into The Jazz Loft at Stony Brook Village, the sly, rhythmic sounds of “Wanderlust” by Duke Ellington and Coleman Hawkins may be the first thing to perk your interest. Or, perhaps, it may be the building’s memorable aroma — a distinguishable smell of amber, musk and leather. Finally, taking a few steps inside the opening room, awe may take over as you enter an elegantly enrapturing space — a room filled with one of the greatest collections of jazz memorabilia in the world. 

Only a five-minute drive away from Stony Brook University’s main campus, The Jazz Loft is one of only five jazz museums in the United States. Being a club and performance hall, The Loft promotes jazz conversation through jazz productions and educational outreach. Last fall, I had the opportunity to be a marketing intern at The Loft, which opened my eyes to its deeper narratives and initiatives.

“Technically, the state of jazz is in the toilet, but what I believe is that there’s this incredible opportunity to re-introduce it to people because it’s gotten to an age where it is so old, I do believe it might as well be new again,” Tom Manuel, Jazz Loft founder and owner, said. “Although statistically, it would look bleak, that there’s an incredible opportunity to present and reintroduce jazz to people and for it to grow and thrive.” 

Manuel is a jazz music professor at Stony Brook University and a member of the community, living locally. He has extensively used The Loft as his medium to speak outwardly on the importance of jazz music’s culture and its conservation. 

The Jazz Loft at Stony Brook Village. Photo by Sophia Trifoli.

The Loft loudly states on its website that its “mission is one of jazz preservation, education and performance, and has quickly become the premier destination for all things Jazz.”

“It’s a performance space and it’s a museum, so we have preservation efforts and jazz memorabilia spanning the last hundred years on display in a 6,000 foot facility,” Manuel said. 

Originating amongst African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 1800s, jazz stems from a variety of influences — its call–and–response rhythmic patterns coming from Africa and harmonic melodies and instrumentation from Europe. However, jazz is undoubtedly American, deliberated as the country’s greatest art form. American historical phenomena like the imposition of Prohibition, the Civil Rights Movement and the country’s involvement in World War II all developed and grew alongside jazz.

The genre’s influences on poetry, fashion, the arts and overarching cultural events are crucial to the preservation of American culture as a whole. An issue that the genre faces today, however, is remaining relevant and finding ways to continue enlightening new generations on why it is significant.

“Jazz music is America’s past and its potential, summed up and sanctified and accessible to anybody who learns to listen to, feel, and understand it,” Wynton Marsalis — famed American vocalist, trumpeter and composer — wrote in his 2008 book Moving to Higher Ground: How Jazz Can Change Your Life. “It can connect us to our earlier selves and to our better selves-to-come. It can remind us of where we fit on the timeline of human achievement, an ultimate value of art.”

Musician performing at The Jazz Loft at Stony Brook Village. Photo by Sophia Trifoli.

Not only is the museum an invaluable relic in the mission to reawaken the love of jazz, but also aids in the preservation of Stony Brook Village’s own chronicle. The Loft’s immense collection of jazz memorabilia, including antiques like records, instruments and sheet music take shelter in an old firehouse station that holds great significance to the historical town, Long Island and the nation. 

The Loft’s website states that the firehouse station has been a “functioning and usable space by the community’s inhabitants since the late 18th century during the Culper Spy Ring throughout 250 years of culminating events right up till today.”

Alongside the preservation of jazz music, the museum emits a resounding appreciation of the genre’s visual history. The Loft’s most recent exhibit Haiti and Jazz Photography, featuring the work of Stony Brook alumna Ildi Tillmann, is an example of the steps being taken to preserve jazz’s visual history. 

“[I wanted] to find the connections between individuals in different places,” Tillmann, whose work exemplifies the similarities between the cultures of Haiti and Hungary and the New York City Jazz scene, said.  “There is so much focus on always emphasizing the differences between people that we really forget that we are all part of the same human race, this was the inspiration for my show.” 

Tillman has a diverse and established educational background, having obtained a law degree in Hungary before coming to the United States in 2000. Additionally, she received a master’s degree in Africana studies from Stony Brook University. Tillman is also an author and has been published in several outlets including The Columbia Journal, the Journal of Free Black Thought, The Caribbean Quarterly and The Caribbean Writer. Being a Stony Brook alumna, the presentation of her work speaks highly to the Jazz Loft’s coordinated efforts with the university. 

Conceptually creating an exhibit that represents something “at the crossroads of documentary, of art, of knowledge,” Tillmann also excitedly stated that “That’s what the Jazz Loft represents! It’s music, it’s visual, it’s written stories.”

The Jazz Loft at Stony Brook Village. Photo by Sophia Trifoli.

Many of the performances put on by the Jazz Loft aim to celebrate the history of jazz production. One of the most popular events held is the Rat Pack Review, an annual concert that pays homage to the iconic music performance group called the ‘Rat Pack’ that consisted of greats Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop and Peter Lawford. Award-winning singer Danny Bacher is a gem who performs at this event each year, known for his chillingly accurate Frank Sinatra impersonation.

“The Rat Pack has to be my favorite event here,” Andrea Carros, office manager at The Loft, said. “Tom and Danny Bacher are so funny together, they put on such a great show.”

Another popular event at the jazz loft that is rooted in the nostalgia of  jazz classics. The Young at Heart Series is a monthly themed concert that is focused around playing older music and delighting older audiences.

“I often hear from seniors that it may be difficult for them to travel out at night and so I created the Young at Heart Series which takes place in the afternoon,” Manuel said. “The one-hour programs are designed to be interactive and embrace storytelling.”

With each themed performance playing throwbacks by varying artists of different time periods, they also help anybody with memory loss remember music.

In parallel with this project of archival preservation, one of The Jazz Loft’s most adamant missions is promoting the teaching of the declining art of jazz music education.

The Loft School of Jazz is a program for young musicians offered by the Jazz Loft in an effort to alleviate this crisis. Through The Loft’s jazz theory curriculum, students gain a foundational understanding of aural skills and a greater understanding of musical literacy. Further equipped with weekly classes on Saturday, Loft performances and interactive workshops with world-renowned guest artists like Todd Coolman, students are offered a safe community and space to expand their musicianship horizons. 

Warren Vach, celebrated American trumpeter and cornetist, is a teacher at The Loft School of Jazz and spoke highly of the institution as a whole.

“Playing and teaching at the Jazz Loft is always a joy for me,” Vach said. “It not only allows me to meet new people, but it also affords me the opportunity to be re-acquainted with many of my old friends, it brings a warm feeling to my heart.” 

Artists performing at The Jazz Loft at Stony Brook Village. Photo by Sophia Trifoli.

Oxana Urayasev, an artist and scientist who recently retired, has also felt the strong sense of community being offered at the venue. Her most recent academic work was done at the University of Florida, and, soon after retiring, she settled in Port Jefferson, New York, with her husband. Manuel was one of the first friends Uryasev made on Long Island.

“Traveling and moving around a lot is hard, I lived in many different places,” Uryasev expressed. “The Jazz Loft made New York feel like home.” 

Many Stony Brook University students have also found a sense of familiarity and refuge at The Loft. Stony Brook’s Big Band Ensemble, taught by famed trombonist Ray Anderson, is a class where students are able to learn what it’s like to be a part of a jazz ensemble and play at The Jazz Loft itself. Along with official jazz classes constructed by the university, college students also assemble at The Loft’s Wednesday night jam sessions. These sessions, held from 7 to 9:30, are gatherings where musicians of any instrument or skill level meet together to informally play jazz classics, creating a fun hub for Stony Brook students. This makes Wednesday a favorite and exciting day of week for employees, myself included.

An artist performing at The Jazz Loft at Stony Brook Village. Photo by Sophia Trifoli.

And this tangibly warm feeling is anything but coincidental. Manuel has talked extensively on how The Loft’s unique and intrinsically real exhibits are such an important aspect of the museum’s message of reviving jazz culture through undoubted authenticity.

“In a lot of other spaces where you go you see wonderful exhibits, those are prefabricated, there’s stuff that’s staged and put in place,” he said.  

So, what’s next in store for the museum? For one, and arguably most anticipated, is the receival of a large collection of jazz icon and legend Charlie Parker’s memorabilia. Parker is known as one of the pioneers  of bebop, a small modern jazz band that originated in the 1940s.

Raising $8,500 so far for the cause, The Jazz Loft’s endeavor to exhibit the impressive collection would be monumental in not only leveraging the museum’s publicity to unknown heights, but also invigorating the way this American-born culture is displayed on Long Island.

“What we’re all about and what we want to get out of the Jazz Loft is to advocate for this beautiful American-born art form that was contributed to by so many cultures,” Manuel expressed. “Jazz always reflects honestly and genuinely what we’re feeling about our current situation and environment. In many ways, jazz is like the soundtrack to our nation, to our history, to our culture.”

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