Have your jazz hands been idle for too long? A new organization on campus, Student Jazz Association are holding their first jam session this Friday in an attempt to warm idle jazz hands and hearts.

The creation of SJA was formed by jazz majors and enthusiasts and was backed heavily by the jazz faculty. It was created with one clear purpose, as described by Matt Skitzki, senior jazz major and treasurer of the group; to create a greater awareness of jazz.

“What we are trying to do is promote jazz events in the area and to bring people who love jazz together in BG. There was no other student organization on campus that did that, so we created our own,” Skitzki said.

SJA will attempt to do this in this upcoming this year by promotion various jazz performances, bringing in guest performers and holding additional informal jam sessions if this one proves to be successful.

The organization will also attempt to bring more light to the jazz program at the University, which is sometimes overlooked according to Skitzki.

“There is not a lot of awareness about the jazz program here. Not many people know that we have four full-time jazz faculty members on staff and they also play in town. An example of this is an awesome trumpet player that plays with us now named Chris Cunningham,” Skitzki said. “He didn’t realize that we have a jazz program, but when he did realize it, we were so glad to have him because he’s amazing. We know there are so many people who also are talented out there, but we aren’t making enough noise.”

However, the “Welcome Back” jam session is sure to produce some noise. The session is open to anyone, regardless of skill level, who has a passion for playing jazz. The event will be held tonight at “The Wonder House” on 111 N. Enterprise. Skitzki asks that anyone interested in attending sends a R.S.V.P. message to [email protected] due to limited space.