AURORA | Growing up in a family of musicians and understanding the importance of a mentor are driving forces when it comes to being successful in the music world.
Daryl Gott steps up for young musicians regardless of whether they’ve got musical family and friends in the background.
On the last Sunday of every month from 1 p.m. until 3 p.m., he hosts All Ages Jazz Jam
sessions, offering an opportunity to connect young musicians with veterans of the trade.
“It’s a way to give back to the community that nurtured me,” Daryl said. “On my journey it was super important to have strong mentors.”
He was fortunate his mother played piano and his father played bass guitar. But he knew
the importance of jam sessions as a real way to break into the music scene.
“You can practice all day, but if you don’t experience playing in front of people, you are not going to succeed,” Daryl said. The problem, however, is that there are not many jam
sessions in the metro area that allow for all-ages to participate. Most are in bars, where
minors are often not allowed at night, or at all.
Daryl hosts his jam sessions three nights a week around Denver.
Knowing that opportunities like that were lacking, Daryl, along with the help of the Aurora Cultural Arts District, and some timely grants, developed this all-ages jam session.
He also has a GoFundMe to assist with paying the band members that play regularly during the all-ages jams, as well as helping Daryl work on publicity for the jams, which can be found at gofund.me/6b80ffc8/. The monthly jams took place at the People’s Building for just around two years before Daryl moved them to the Factory Fashion school in the Stanley Marketplace.
“It’s about all ages getting together,” he said. “Younger people learning from older people.”
Photo Essay by Philip B. Poston/Sentinel Colorado
