A quaint array of alumni, students and their parents visiting for Family Weekend were scattered around the transformed the Loyola Band Room on Oct. 24. Following the walkway of tea light candles down through the eerie back entrance of Loyola Hall, guests were greeted with a table of Halloween candy and mini sodas. Fairy lights and $15 Walmart tables were set up, providing seating. As people filed in, the musicians took their place on the makeshift stage in front of the projector playing “Frankenstein” (1931). Although the room was half empty, a mere 15 or so chairs occupied, the band performed as if this were the most important gig of their lives.
On the saxophone, Lucious Crawford, FCRH ’28, with his eyes closed in pure bliss, led the band through “Thriller” and other songs. He said he loves performing at jazz nights.
“It’s fun every time, it’s new every time,” he said, adding that that is what makes jazz amazing.
The event was marketed as an “open jam session,” and audience members were invited to come up and give their shot at performing. The music could be heard from outside of Loyola Hall, which was the intention, according to Crawford.
“My idea was to just make it loud … Just make it known that Fordham Jazz is down here,” he said. “There were people that came down just because they heard it outside.”
Jazz jams have previously been held at Rodrigue’s Coffee House, but this year’s move to a band room in Loyola was for a few reasons, with one being the overwhelming crowds the sessions claim to have brought in.
“It was kind of a struggle to get in,” said Julia Jaramillo, FCLC ’25. “So many people would come, and people would be blocking the door, and you have to walk over people to get in.”
Other benefits of the band room include access to a grand piano, the ability to play a silent movie in the background and the convenience for students, as it is on campus. The band room is also free.
The music department has limited financial resources, according to Nathan Lincoln-Decusatis, DMA, an associate professor of music, who was playing the piano.
“Academic programs are always counting their pencils trying to survive,” he said, also adding that the athletics department seems to have money for everything.
It is not just athletics that have more resources allocated to them, DeCusatis said. Many clubs, music-oriented or not, seem to have a larger budget than the Fordham music department. He questions whether the university stands for funding academics or the lively lifestyle on campus.
On why students should attend jam nights, Jaramillo said, “Jazz is cool.” She played flute in the Fordham University Symphony Orchestra (FUSO), which has struggles of its own. The non-audition, open-to-all orchestra has gained momentum in the past few years, growing from a mainly jazz orchestra to a full-blown symphony.
Andy Bhasin, the director of orchestral ensembles, said he wants the orchestra to “create a really satisfying and rewarding next step in their musical journey.” However, some of the students’ high school orchestras were playing at a higher level than the FUSO. Bhasin hopes that a more difficult repertoire would “hopefully raise the profile of our ensemble in our community and beyond.”
But it takes more than pieces composed by Antonín Dvořák to create a great orchestra; it takes talent and hard work, something that can be difficult to cultivate when Bhasin does not turn away students who may
be more interested in the scholarship that comes with joining.
“I’m really proud,” Bhasin said. “Of the fact that all of these students take the time out of their busy schedules to make music at a high level.” He said he is humbled by their level of commitment.
The FUSO is just one part of the music department, with the jazz jams being another. Even though their performance at one of the jazz jams is a requirement for DeCusatis’s “Jazz Improvisation” course, a grade isn’t the motivation for attendance and to continue performing at the jams.
There is little funding and few audience members, but that isn’t the point for these musicians. They do it because they love it.
