For JASS, Korea University’s (KU) Jazz club, it is all about relaxing and enjoying music and life. As free-spirited jazz is conceived, JASS itself is also a very relaxing club. For students who want to enjoy the romances, or so-called “Nangman” of their university life, JASS is the perfect place to go. Three members of the club, Kang In Koo ('12, French Language and Literature), Lim Jae Kwang ('09, Environmental Science and Ecological Engineering), and Shin Yong Yoon ('09, Korean Language and Literature), explained the charm and appeal of not only JASS but also jazz.

Although JASS was founded in 1990, it was only three years ago that they were officially acknowledged as one of the school official clubs. The incumbent president of JASS, Kang explained the charms of JASS and the numerous exciting events JASS is involved in. As a matter of fact, JASS spends the year doing quite a lot of performances.   

They usually start a new year by performing on stage at the freshmen orientation camp in February. In May, they have their regular concerts and also perform in the school festival called Daedong-je. In August, they hold workshops for new members, and they finish their one year by participating in the Annual Jazz Festival in December. Last year, JASS also had the opportunity to perform at the Annual Go-Yon games where they rewrote one of the cheer songs. Sometimes, JASS plans some performances for impromptu and busking inside and outside of campus, for example at Cheonggyecheon. They also meet up with other clubs from other schools since there are not many university jazz clubs in Korea.   

Just because JASS is a jazz club, it does not mean that you have to know how to play an instrument perfectly, or sing jazz tunes flawlessly. In fact, you can join the club without knowing anything about the music. JASS provides the opportunity to explore the different parts of music. Kang said, “I started out playing clarinet but I also wanted to learn other instruments, so I learned about the basics about them. Recently, I took interest in vocals and started learning about it as well. Therefore, there are not many constraints within the club, but everything is also voluntary.”   

Because many members that join the club do not have prior knowledge about jazz, there are many meetings dedicated to studying the genre itself. Within the club, there are two main regular activities: listening and performing. Each meeting is held once a week throughout the semester and are both dedicated to achieving a deeper level of understanding jazz.   

In listening sessions, the members of the club gather in order to not only listen to music but also get to know the history and the basic underlying facts about jazz. This meeting is organized by one of the members and, depending on that “host”, the theme of the study and the programs could change. For example, once, they based their study on looking at songs that would be good to listen to when eating noodles, or good songs to listen to on PePeRo- Day, November 11. The meeting can also be about looking at the history of Jazz, or they might just go to a Jazz bar to listen to music. Therefore, even though these study meetings might sound a bit burdensome, it is really about enjoying the sessions in a very free milieu.   

In performing sessions, members gather in their club room and start playing any song that they would like to try. According to the members that participate, this meeting might finish early within two hours, but could proceed longer than expected, which is sometimes up to six hours. All these meetings are not mandatory, but obviously, if you want to participate in a performance, it is necessary for you to learn about jazz music.  

During the concert, there are opportunities to show off what you have learned – a chance to express and share the music. For ad lib, members are allowed to express music in whatever ways they want. “Based on what we learned, members are not only free to write their own scores to the music, but they can also incorporate their own styles into the pieces, like putting a ballad or a lyrical touch to it,” says Kang.   

When asked to describe the appeals of jazz music, members of JASS answered in different ways. Lim said, “I think Jazz is about communication. Through music, the players communicate and interact with one another and can express their own individual colors of music.” Kang also defined jazz music as freedom. “When playing jazz music, there are no rules you need to go by. In classical music, rules are the most important, but jazz music is all about being free and unrestricted. For example, during a solo performance, members might start dancing or rapping; it is all about expressing yourself!”  

There are many diverse students joining JASS currently, but Kang said that the reasons that they join are quite similar. She said, “Rather than coming to JASS because they had prior experience, it is more that the students have done other genres of music such as Indie, Hip Hop, and rock and come over to experience a new world of music. I think this is great because these kinds of prior experiences are melted into their performance.”   

There are about 30 official members enlisted in JASS and any KU student is free to join, regardless of their age or gender. Even exchange students are welcomed to participate. Compared to the number of female students, there are many male students but during performance, JASS said that there is an equal balance between the two genders. There are no minimum or maximum numbers of the semester that you have to be in JASS and you can be part of it as long as you want. In addition, there is no official registration period so anyone willing can join at any time they wish. 

For those students that want to escape their busy and competitive lives, JASS is the perfect activity to join. Indeed, JASS is the perfect opportunity to really enjoy your college life and also really enjoy music as well.