California Jazz Conservatory

Love the CJC & Jazzschool Community Music School.
This place has improved the lives of thousands of people and created and incredible space for jazz music in the SF bay area!
Thank you Susan!

I haven’t taken any classes here (yet), but this review is for the ease of booking and all the practice rooms we’ve used to jam here.
I play the drums, and I often judge a music place like this by the quality of the drums available to the patrons. The Jazz School provides good quality drums. You select your cymbals and get the clutch from the room behind the counter where you sign-​in, and you’re free to rearrange any of the percussion equipment however you see fit. The drums themselves are mostly tuned well, and the one time I had a bad snare, the person at the counter immediately swapped it out for a good one without any questions or issues. Fantastic.
Each room has enough space for a full jazz ensemble to practice and is still $ 20 per hour, so definitely affordable and easy to split among the musicians. It comes with the aforementioned drums, a piano, and even a nice set of vibes. I love this place and will definitely be back soon!

It doesn’t get much better with incredible teachers, a warm and responsive staff and students of all ages working together for a common good.
The weekly performances offers tremendous variety from professionals to students and music from all over the world. The concerts are priced so that they’re affordable! That’s unique in today’s performance venues.

I have mixed feelings about my time at Jazz School. I took some pretty cool sight reading and choir classes that were insightful, but it was getting into Greg Murai’s vocal ensemble class where the bad vibes kicked in.
I had a private audition with him that went well enough to be invited to a Thursday afternoon section of the class, but I could only come into the Monday evening section, which was full, so I waited until the following quarter, when I was invited to join that Monday class when one of the long-​term students of the group had left.
First thing I realized was that the five or so students in this class had been singing together on Monday nights for a long time, perhaps years. They saw themselves more as a group than a class and were clearly vocalists at heart, where I was a guitarist with a few years of private vocal lessons, so I had to work a bit harder to fit in, which was cool, because that’s why I’m at Jazz SCHOOL. Not to mention my classmates had many off days themselves, not doing their homework due to work & life conflicts.
So it’s the last night of my second quarter in this class when Greg calls me into a private office and tells me «it’s not working out». Huh? Yup, he was kicking me out of the class because I wasn’t as good a singer as the rest of the group. I was too shocked to put up an argument – more embarrassed, actually. Ya see, earlier that evening one of the classmates mentioned to the group how the former member mentioned above wanted to come back to the class.
I was basically kicked out to make room for the clique.
It was quite upsetting to be kicked out of a class I’d successfully auditioned for, despite doing my homework and such. I thought I’d developed a nice camaraderie with the group, which turned out to be an illusion. I wanted to continue taking classes there, but if I’m going to get kicked out despite doing my homework what’s the point?
Yeah, I still have a chip on my shoulder over this. I’ll take it up with the therapist! :)

Wow! Yet another place we «discovered» because there was no «room at the inn»
at our intended destination. In this case it was Freight and Salvage to hear Kitka.
As we were walking back to BART we saw a sign that said the magic words
«Free Music.» We’ve been meaning to go to hear music at Jazzschool for awhile.
I am so glad we came. There were a couple of different sets of musicians and singers. The singers were comprised of women who were currently «students»
of Jazzschool’s singing classes. I put quotes around the word students because these women were not beginners or amateurs — they were all fabulous!
The energy and enthusiasm of these singers was contagious. It was so
easy to get caught up in this.
The accompanying musicians were top-​notch too!
We’ll definitely go back!

I am on my third semester at this school and I LOVE it! I am taking Introduction to Jazz singing with Ellen Johnson, and she is amazing! I love the community and fabulous places to practice. I love the Jazz café so I can grab a hot tea or a snack before class ;)

We are so lucky to have the Berkeley Jazz School here in the East Bay. I’ve taken a piano class and a slew of singing classes, mostly from Maye Cavallaro, who is a great teacher and also fun. Especially good if you like putting a jazz treatment on American Songbook songs. She gives you a lot of extras, such as help in the technical area of creating charts and backing tracks.

Where else can you take intensive jazz guitar lessons with one of the top three jazz guitarists in the country? I have studied with Mimi Fox for three classes and my playing has improved geometrically with each class. For years I struggled with both the technical aspects of soloing and anxiety when my turn to solo came around in the chart. Mimi addressed both problems and now I play out regularly without the mind numbing paralysis and fear. I am an intermediate player and Mimi understands that we cannot and probably will never play like her. But we can play better and incorporate the theory to make us more conversant with the instrument. I learned that there is no such thing as «I don’t know anything about the lydian mode; I just play.» She and the school are awesome.

Great music, great teachers, great food and wine. There aren’t that many places where an amateur adult musician can get a chance to play /​learn with actual professionals and make real music. I’ve been going to the concerts for years and can’t say that I’ve ever been to a bad performance. Kudos to Susan Muscarella for a great job! Sometimes the kids are even better than the adult students! Awesome! Keep jazz alive and well!

Jon Arkin’s Musical Drummer class is by far one of the best classes for drums I have taken. Anyone could benefit from this class, whether you play rock, funk, or especially if you are trying to break in to improvisational musics like Jazz.
He is able to do what most teachers of Jazz drums can’t, and that is explain the technical concepts while still giving attention to the original spontaneity of the music.
He clearly leads you through the use of the logical voices of the drums to create accompaniment in both solos and in comping that meshes with any music you choose to jam on. He introduces lots of listening examples and cool new music to listen to. This class improved my drumming in a huge way.
I give this place 5 stars! They even have a great coffee shop in there with good daily specials. I don’t agree with the comment below that it is pretentious at all. Of course, just like any school, there are going to be classes that may be better for your needs than others. I think prestige can be mistaken for pretentiousness when you get into classes that are above your skill level.

Berkeley Jazz school is a great place to take lessons which are tailored to your needs. There is a wide variety of courses from harmony, ensembles and individual instruments. I am a bass player and took 3 classes so far, one in funk bass, one in creating bass lines and one in harmony, all of which were very helpful. They have semester system, and the classes run typically 8 weeks. Compared to what you would pay for a private lesson, the cost of the courses are pretty cheap too. The teachers are very knowledgeable and they are from the finest musicians in the bay area. The Jazz school has occasional concerts also… and they have a good cafeteria where you can grab good food while waiting for your class!

I have attended it for a few quarters and I’ve taken several classes with different teachers. I have previously attended other music schools too.
For a start, it’s a pretentious institution, not as innovative as they claim; it’s expensive and not very well managed. There is not a study plan. You can enroll in the classes you want as long as you can afford them. There are many classes to choose from, but not all of them are worth. There are many teachers, changing continuously; they say the wages are low; some of them are well known local musicians but not all of them are good educators. Some are good teachers and will give you a lot of material to study, but others are not. They may be rude with the students, or have substitutes for 30% of their classes, or even have not a curriculum for the class at all. There is also a bookstore with overcharged prices and a cafeteria not very cheap either. There is no library.
The best is the live sound during concerts.

Great local musicians. That is all.

Great place for jazz guitar lessons — the great Mimi Fox is an excellent teacher– so is the amazing Brian Pardo. Cute café & performance space as well.

I have taken 3 courses there. The quality of the instruction is quite variable and includes both the best and the worst courses I have ever had. There is no quality control over the performance of their instructors.
Jazz Piano I: (Bob Karty) Good, solid course.
Jazz Piano II: (Debbie Poryes) The worse course I have ever had anywhere. The woman seems to be oriented towards teaching young kids. She certainly doesn’t know how to communicate with adults. Poorly organized, sloppy material. I simply stopped attending halfway through the course.
Arranging: (Frank Martin) The best course I have ever had. Frank has an outstanding professional background and is able to bring that experience to his teaching. Conversant with arranging in just about any music style. Provided a wealth of material on arranging techniques. I learned everything about arranging in this course that I should have learned when I took an arranging course earlier at Berklee Online (at 3 times the cost).

Jazzschool is a wonderful place. Jazz classes, great and diverse performances from lots of upcoming musicians, and lots of opportunities for the local high school/​UC Berkeley cats too. The house cast is solid and there are always fantastic guest faculty teaching here as well. The space is not amazing but the spirit and energy is fantastic. Staff is helpful everytime I’m there too.
The thing about Jazzschool is that it’s become increasingly expensive — lessons and performances. The café/​food is also overpriced too… I wish they still ran weekly jam sessions too… as a performance venue, Jazzschool is kind of between a random open space (think what 33 Revolutions used to be) and a classy-​esque restaurant venue (like what Anna’s used to be). Funding-​wise, I wonder how long this place can last… let’s hope it does though!

Two of my friends performed here, and that’s why I know this place. I was invited to see their performance and each time I really enjoyed their gigs. What a great pleasure to see the future Jazz stars blossoming right here in Berkeley.

I previously reviewed this under the «Aurora Theatre Company» and Shauna R. corrected me and directed me to review it here. Here is my previous review from 5÷28÷2006:

I went here last night to watch a friend sing in her jazz band. This place is quaint and stylish. I agree with other reviewers: all the seats are fabulous because there are only about 15 tables surrounding the floor-​level stage.
The performance was top notch, and judging by the list of upcoming events, this place only books the best-​of-​the-​best local stuff.
Great place to relax with a latte or tea and hear some quality music.

I’m walking down the street, en route to 24 Hour Fitness, when I hear what sounds like live music coming from a building. As I approach the sound, I walk down a flight of stairs and there, performing a small concert, is a jazz combo: piano, bass, sax, two percussionist, and no more than 15 people listening.
World-​class jazz. 15 people.
How much, I ask the person at the door? $ 15.
2.5 hours of national and internationally known jazz musicians for $ 15. FRONT ROW. Are you serious?
I sat there and listened to Mark Levine’s Kenny Garrett Project (led by Mark Levine — I think he’s a director there at the school).
Watching these musicians make me think: music is the gateway to the soul (I’m getting way too poetic…). Places like this encapsulate the essence of Berkeley and the Bay Area: to embrace the creativity of the soul, no matter what. Pure dharma…
I felt so thankful and blessed to be able to sit here and listen to these musicians play for two hours.
If I lived up here in NorCal, I’d be here at least once a week.
Keep jammin Jazzschool…

This is a great place to hear music. It has an intimacy that reminds me of the late, lamented Maybeck Recital Hall, although the architecture is quite different. The concert hall is in the basement of the building and there are windows high on the wall that give you a great view of the legs of people walking by. The café sells good things to eat and the name of the book/​CD store, Bassment Records, is irresistible.