Jazz Lessons

2025 Edition: Jazz (does not) exist

The eleventh season of the Jazz Lessons, which took place at the Casa del Jazz in Rome from January 19 to April 13, 2025, was titled Jazz (does not) exist: at the origins of the contemporary. A series of Sunday morning meetings at 11:00 AM where Stefano Zenni reconstructed the shifts in language and style of recent jazz and its hybridizations with other genres.

Among the topics addressed: the transformation of form from Anthony Braxton to Steve Lehman; the new rhythms of Tim Berne, Steve Coleman, and Vijay Iyer; the free radicals of Manhattan around John Zorn; the encounter between jazz and hip hop; electronic dreams between the United States and Europe; new standards from Paul Motian to Brad Mehldau, and finally, the jazz of the global village. Each lesson, as per tradition, combined storytelling and guided listening in a format capable of captivating both experts and newcomers.

Sundays at 11:00 AM - January 19: Transforming form, from Anthony Braxton to Steve Lehman; February 2: Changing rhythm, Tim Berne, Steve Coleman, Vijay Iyer; February 9: Free radicals in Manhattan, John Zorn & Co; March 23: Scratching the swing, the encounter with hip hop; March 30: Voyager, electronic dreams between the USA and Europe; April 6: Old standards, new classics, from Motian to Mehldau; April 13: Ostinato assai, jazz in the global village.

• Seven Sunday lecture-concerts dedicated to contemporary jazz
• Guided by musicologist Stefano Zenni
• Guided listening and analysis accessible to everyone