Every Tuesday night, live jazz performances take over the upstairs space of the Masonic Temple located on the second floor of the Sag Harbor Whaling Museum, located at 200 Main St..
For over 14 years now, The Jam Session Inc., a Sag Harbor-based nonprofit production and education arts organization, has been a driving force for enabling tons of live music shows at some of the most beloved venues across the East End. Inspired by the Manhattan late-night jazz club scene, the concerts provide a consistent live music scene across the South Fork, featuring musicians from all across Long Island, New York City and Connecticut. But up to recently, there wasn’t a dedicated space for the shows.
But it’s only been a year since the Jam Session found a permanent home for its popular jazz night concerts at the Masonic Temple, and Claes Brondal couldn’t be happier about it.
“Since we’re a nonprofit, and with regard to the nature of our specific business, it took a while to find a brick-and-mortar home,” Brondal says.
Over the years, the Jam Session’s had their jazz night performances at several revered East End locales, like Guild Hall, the Parrish Art Museum, Bay Street Theater and the Southampton Cultural Center. “It’s surprisingly perfect,” he says of the Masonic Temple. “There’s perfect acoustics and it’s just so unusual and old and funky, but in the best possible way, plus it’s extremely beautiful, so that’s a major plus.”
Shows go from 7 to 9 p.m. with doors opening at 6:30 p.m.. All concerts are curated by Brondal and you can check out the upcoming schedule here.
With a consistently packed house for nearly every performance attendees are arranged in cabaret seating. There’s a cash bar and a South Indian-style vegetarian dinner available for a mere $15, provided by Bridgehampton’s Tapovana Lunch Box. The suggested donation for admission is $20, but “if you have nothing, you give nothing, Brondal assures. “We’re trying to create a New York City-style jazz supper club,” he notes, “and make sure that it’s accessible to everyone.” All proceeds go to local charities.
There are new guests each week backed by the über-talented house band in which Brondal serves as the drummer. Participating acts certainly play music that falls under the classical jazz genre, but the mission of the organization is to bring to the fore additional styles, including Afro-Cuban jazz, Brazilian jazz, fusion and funk.
“We’re trying to create a community hangout,” says Brondal, executive director and founder of the Jam Session. “We’re hell-bent on being able for you to count on seeing live music every single week.”
Tickets for upcoming shows are available here.
