On a Saturday morning in early spring, all is quiet in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood; until you pass the tall windows at Seattle JazzED.
Inside the jazz education nonprofit, rosy-cheeked toddlers settle onto floor mats with their parents holding percussion shakers shaped like citrus fruits. It’s rattle pandemonium as DeMarcus Baysmore plugs into his amp at the front of the room and launches into solo jazz guitar.
This is the first JazzSprouts class of JazzED’s spring quarter. Jazz, a complex music, is usually the territory of sophisticated adults. But this 8-week course, designed specifically to expose children ages 8 months to 5 years to jazz music and history, is proving babies love it, too.
JazzSprouts, first introduced to JazzED’s students as WeBop in 2016, is one of the most popular programs the organization offers. The class is taught by trombonist and vocalist Audrey Stangland with a revolving cast of accompanists hired from the Seattle music community.
“I see a lot of bonding in that class, and I think that's why it's so popular,” said Courtney Clark, program director for Seattle JazzED. “Parents are looking for opportunities to introduce something new to their children, but also have the opportunity to do it with them.”
From WeBop to JazzSprouts
A body of research shows that jazz, particularly the act of spontaneous creation, supports early childhood learning as well as social and emotional well-being.
Seattle JazzED, which specializes in providing financially accessible and culturally responsive jazz classes to K-12 students, began 16 years ago. They offer a sequence of courses geared toward teaching jazz concepts to different age groups.
The journey to JazzSprouts began in 2016 when former JazzED Education Director Kelly Clingan and music instructor Tanesha Ross flew to New York City to train in Jazz At Lincoln Center’s (JALC) WeBop curriculum.
WeBop, first developed in 2004, is JALC’s early jazz education program for children and their caregivers based on a belief in a child’s innate ability to improvise, according to JALC’s website. The class guides families through jazz sounds, rhythms, and the rich history of the genre, while also giving children and their caretakers lots of opportunity to be musical together.
“There were all of these takeaways for grown-ups who didn't necessarily identify as musicians,” Clingan said.
“In fact, most did not, and they were learning what form is, they were learning what the blues is, why we call it that, what it serves for us as humans, and doing that in partnership with their kid who's just there having fun with their parent.”
Clingan and Ross brought WeBop to JazzED, making it the first time the class was taught on the West Coast. Eventually, the use of the WeBop curriculum became cost prohibitive and JazzED vied to develop their own variation of the class.
JazzSprouts, with curriculum written by Clingan, debuted at JazzED in 2023. It preserves WeBop’s 8-week structure, as well as the focus on the parent-child relationship and immersion in live jazz, but modifies the weekly themes, which center musical ideas like “the beat.”
JazzSprouts also incorporates new exercises, jazz songs, and books that fit the preferences of the teacher and theme of the week. During KNKX’s visit to the class, Baysmore and Stangland performed Bob Marley’s “One Love” along with an illustrated picture book that shared the lyrics to the song.
“The ABC’s of jazz [are] in all of our classes. So, from rhythm to tempo to finding a steady beat to improvisation, scatting,” Clark said.
Clark said they also work to make sure the JazzSprouts book selections are “culturally responsive,” in the sense that all students can “see themselves in the story and in the music itself,” regardless of their gender identity or cultural background.
It's fun to swing together
Stangland started shadowing Clingan as a JazzSprouts instructor four years ago.
“She asked me if I'd be interested, and I wasn't really, because a lot of times I have seen kids’ music classes that are really cringe,” Stangland said.
But Stangland found JazzSprouts to be different. Like Clingan, Stangland doesn’t change her voice or oversimplify when she performs for the children. She performs as she would in any other context, connecting with each kid through eye contact and a smile.
Class opens with Stangland singing “Good Morning Blues,” a cheerful tune that exposes the children to the sound of the 12-bar blues, a foundation of jazz. She switches the lyrics to include each kid’s name and allows them a chance to respond to ‘how are you?’ with their own freestyled rhythms and babble.
“I see a lot of constructivism in her where she allows the children to explore before she tells them what they did, which parents love,” Clark said, referring to an educational philosophy where learners build knowledge through experiences and social interaction, rather passively through direct instruction.
During the class, Stangland shares several more interactive songs that get the children singing, dancing, or playing bongo drums. Children and their caregivers learn about essential aspects of jazz, including call and response, improvisation and swing, a rhythmic long-short pattern that is distinctive to this music.
“Do you like to go to the playground? Do you like swings? Do you like to swing with a friend? Swinging is part of jazz, too! It’s more fun with a friend!,” Stangland tells the class before diving into a swing version of “Wheels on the Bus.”
Songs are also curated to introduce families to legends of jazz.
Stangland tees up “C Jam Blues,” which she explains was composed by Duke Ellington. Before a group performance of “Salt Peanuts,” a tune Dizzy Gillespie wrote about his favorite snack, Stangland talks about Gillespie and prompts the children to share their favorite snacks. One toddler’s cosmopolitan choice— “olives and cheese,”—prompts a few chuckles as Stangland plays the rhythm of the words on the bongos.
Total jazz immersion
“I love that they go around and talk to each kid and start teaching them different beats,” said Kristina Mattull, who participated in the class with her toddler, Remy Morris.
Morris, who frequently strayed from his mom and grandparents to interact with the other children, was also attracted to the piano and Baysmore’s guitar.
“He just stops for music when he hears it,” Mattull said. “He has a little drum set at home. He started playing a recorder, and he has a little harmonica.”
Little Remy will be excited about what’s coming: Weeks 4 and 8 of JazzSprouts are special “live band weeks,” when a jazz group is hired to come in and perform for the class. Last year, a large gleaming tuba left a big impression on the kids, said Clark.
“It's the opportunity for them to have a petting zoo, to be able to interact with the instrument, to be introduced to not just the sound or a picture in a book, but to actually see it live in-person,” Clark said.
By the final culminating band week, the little sprouts often develop confidence, new friendships, and a deeper sense of creative expression.
“They’re often really timid at first, but then sometimes there will just be a day where they're like, ‘I'm here and I'm confident,’” Stangland said. “Or, a lot of parents will be like, ‘she talks about you all the time at home and sings all the songs.’”
Since the new curriculum started, JazzSprouts continues to grow. Stangland started by teaching three 45 minute-long classes on Saturday mornings, and recently they added two more on Sundays.
As a professional musician who often gigs on Friday and Saturday nights, this makes for a busy weekend. But Stangland doesn’t mind because it’s such a fun class to teach.
“It’s hard to have a bad day after," she said.
Everyone is riding high as JazzSprouts ends on this particular Saturday. The sound of shakers that once filled the room is replaced by laughs and jabber. As some families file out, a few of the children, including 3-year-old Freya Ababa, tinker at the piano.
“I think this was a really cute class,” said her mother, Selah Ababa. “I'm looking forward to coming every week.”
