News & Events

Videos from our March 10th Jazz Workshop

April 4, 2024

Here are some videos from our first Spring 2024 Jazz Workshop on March 10th, featuring Ralph Lalama (Guest artist), Joey Berkley (our Center Director) and Theo Kornblum:

Open Jazz Workshop Series (March – April 2024)

February 21, 2024

Please join our director saxophonist Joey Berkley along with the following veteran musicians for an Open Jazz Workshop Series 6-9PM on the following Sundays

March 10 Ralph Lalama (Tenor sax)
March 17 Alan Goidel (Trombone)
March 24 Paul Bollenback (Guitar)
April 7 Tony Kadleck (Trumpet)
April 14 Joel Rosenblatt (Drums)

Jam session immediately follows each workshop, open to the public.

Click here to register.

ArtsWestchester JazzFest 2023

September 10, 2023

A select group of students, along with several professional musicians opened up for the ArtsWestchester JazzFest on September 10th, 2023. It was a great afternoon of jazz capped off by performances by the Detroit-raised recording artist, bassist and composer Endea Owen and the Mount Vernon native and contemporary jazz saxophonist Mike Phillips.

Summer Performances at the Ridge Hill Mall 2023

June 23, 2023

The Westchester Center for Jazz & Contemporary Music continued playing in the Saturday Ridge Hill Mall Series in Yonkers in 2023 with performances in May, June, August, and September. A combination of professionals and our students, the series exemplifies a key aspect of our school, providing students opportunities to learn from and interact with professional musicians in various settings, including live performances.

Open Jazz Intensive 2023

March 11, 2023

The Westchester Center for Jazz & Contemporary Music hosted its first Open Jazz Intensive on March 11th, 2023. The workshop was conducted by our director saxophonist Joey Berkley along with special guests, the well-known veteran musicians Joel Rosenblatt (drums) and Brian Pareschi (trumpet). Participants got a chance to explore rhythm and brass techniques, along with improvisational fundaments within a relaxed, ensemble setting.

Summer Performances at the Ridge Hill Mall 2022

June 26, 2022

The Westchester Center for Jazz & Contemporary Music is playing Saturday’s 5-7 at Ridge Hill Mall in Yonkers through the month of July (with the exception of the Fourth of July Weekend). A combination of professionals and our students, it’s an opportunity for students to hone their skills while learning from the Pros. It’s great to be back. Very grateful for our director Joey Berkley for putting this together.

Registration for the Back to School Bootcamp for Summer 2022 is now open

June 8, 2022

Come tune up your skills! Focus on ensemble playing, improvisation, and improving rhythm and reading skills.

Week 1: Aug. 23, 24, 25 from 1-4PM

Week 2: Aug. 30, 31 and Sept. 1 from 1-4PM

Register Now for More Information

Center Teaching Vid Thursday Class The Chicken

September 18, 2020

Video # 2: Working with our Thursday class

In case you missed my previous comments –

We’re back! And I am very grateful to be working with our students at the Westchester Center for Jazz. All the new technology we’ve installed to make us Covid friendly also allows us to record and playback during rehearsal and also allows us to share what we do.
And always enjoyable to watch our director Joey Berkley in action.

Joey as usual says it better than me:

For me, the journey of Jazz is about learning and expressing. I think we can all agree we now face historic uncertain times as musicians collectively. While we race to find the “new normal”, as performing musicians we do not want to give up on the “only normal” and what it takes to get there. In our own way, the Westchester Center for Jazz and Contemporary Music is back at it live, expecting their students to know their scale/arpeggio exercises; rhythm-changes; time is Number 1; intonation matters, forever!!! I say, let’s learn and teach for the one normal that matters most: Miles, Monk, Trane, Bird, Brecker, Ellington, SRV, James Brown, Hendrix, Stevie Wonder, Louis Armstrong and on and on…..and In Our Own Sweet Way, the Westchester Center For Jazz is back at it live.

Sunday Ensemble Improv Lesson

September 17, 2020

It’s great to be back working with our students at the Westchester Center for Jazz. All the new technology we’ve installed to make us Covid friendly also allows us to record and playback during rehearsal and also allows us to share what we do.

And always enjoyable to watch our director Joey Berkley in action.

Joey as usual says it better than me:

For me, the journey of Jazz is about learning and expressing. I think we can all agree we now face historic uncertain times as musicians collectively. While we race to find the “new normal”, as performing musicians we do not want to give up on the “only normal” and what it takes to get there. In our own way, the Westchester Center for Jazz and Contemporary Music is back at it live, expecting their students to know their scale/arpeggio exercises; rhythm-changes; time is Number 1; intonation matters, forever!!! I say, let’s learn and teach for the one normal that matters most: Miles, Monk, Trane, Bird, Brecker, Ellington, SRV, James Brown, Hendrix, Stevie Wonder, Louis Armstrong and on and on…..and In Our Own Sweet Way, the Westchester Center For Jazz is back at it live.

Please check out the improvisation section of our Sunday class below

WCJCM COVID Modifications

September 8, 2020

Check out this video that outlines all of our latest updates and provisions in order to ensure a safe environment for the return of our students. With guidance form the CDC and our team’s collective efforts, we have made state of the art upgrades and accommodations so that we can all come together, social distance, play our tunes, and remain as safe as possible.