I’ve been at BU for a couple of years now.
And I really enjoy my education, I’m majoring in business.
Questrom is a great experience, but from the start I’ve had a huge passion for jazz.
It’s funny because you’ll get people at Questrom that don’t know what jazz is really.
They think “Oh that’s that stuff you hear in an elevator when you’re going to the
third floor.”
I want them to see live jazz.
People don’t realize there’s plenty of spots to catch live jazz in Boston.
One really cool spot is this spot called Darryl’s, which is right along Mass Ave.
What’s cool about Darryl’s is a lot of local musicians play there, the skill of some
of these people is otherworldly
When you are watching a live performance, you see the musicians, you see the look on
their face and you see that they’re sweating and that they’re into it.
It calls upon your skill to play something in the moment that you’re feeling like from
your heart and then you give I back to the public.
People think it’s just this music, but it’s an experience.
Darryl’s really captures the experience of listening.
I didn’t always like jazz music, in fact I got into jazz music through hip-hop music.
Listening to artists like Nas, MF Doom, these really talented artists who would take jazz music and produce
it into their beats.
And one of those cool spots in Boston that you can find those types of tracks, it’s called
In Your Ear Records, you wouldn’t know that it’s there because it’s underground.
It’s like this basement filled with just all the old vinyls and all the old CDs, the
originals.
It goes for miles, it’s like a goldmine.
There’s an experience to going to a record store that you don’t get from listening
to some online streaming service.
These types of places these underground places like In Your Ear Records they have the cuts
that you never knew about.
So the more I listen to old records of hip-hop, the more I did the research and found what
samples they were using.
Then I started listening to less of the hip-hop and more of the samples.
Just the jazz.
Playing jazz is like knowing a universal language.
The minute someone knows you’re also part of that, not club, but that practice that
passion, they’re more inclined to have a conversation with you.
Which entails jam sessions.
If you’ve never seen a jazz jam session, you have to go to Wally’s.
Easily my favorite place to go watch live jazz.
Wally’s has been there from the start, they opened somewhere in the ‘30s or the ‘40s
and it’s a lot smaller than people think.
It’s literally, I can’t even..it’s like a broom closet.
It’s so small.
They’re open 365 days a year.
Wally’s on a Saturday, you’ll be able to catch 15-20 musicians.
When one band leaves the stage, the other ones ready to jump in.
The energy doesn’t stop.
It’s such a unique experience you really have to see it.
I think there’s more similarities in pursuing music and pursuing business than anyone would
think.
Questrom teaches you how to negotiate, self-branding, be an entrepreneur, learn the industry.
Research.
Being a musician?
Talk about real world applications for these skills, which is why I’m thankful that I’m
studying business and applying some of those skills in the music world.
Having those two things really completes my Boston experience.