PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALLISON POTTER
An original American art form lives on in Wilmington
IT’S SUNDAY NIGHT AT BURNT MILL CREEK.
The regulars have arrived, filling all the tables and seats.
Benny Hill, Doug Irving, Chris Luther, Jon Hill and
Jerald Shynette launch into a Charlie Parker standard. Toes
tap and heads nod in time with the music. This is a knowl-edgeable
crowd, and they clap approvingly after each solo.
The scene is repeated week after week, month after
month. The Sunday jazz jam is a Wilmington tradition,
dating back at least three decades. It’s moved around town,
featuring musicians playing and audiences appreciating tra-ditional
Benny Hill on alto sax, Jerald Shynette on keys, Doug Irving on bass, Jon Hill on drums and Chris Luther on guitar perform
at the Sunday jazz jam at Burnt Mill Creek.
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jazzBY SIMON GONZALEZ
www.wrightsvillebeachmagazine.com WBM
jazz.
“The Sunday jazz jam has been going on for I don’t know
how long,” says Benny Hill, a Wilmington native and alto
sax virtuoso. “I was introduced to it in 1990, ’91. It used to
be every Sunday at the Ice House downtown.”
Hill has a degree from the University of North Carolina
Wilmington in music performance and a master’s in jazz
studies from the Northern Illinois University, but one of the
most important classes happened on Sunday nights.
“I learned a lot at jam sessions,” he says. “An immeasur-able
amount. Playing with older players, having them get
mad at me and tell me that’s wrong.”
The “jam” in the title means everything is unscripted. All
cats are welcome to sit in, although prior experience and
some ability are appreciated.
“We have a lot of good players,” Luther says. “It’s sort of
like the hub where people can come meet, and they spawn
out from here to the different bands. Jazz musicians in every
city always have networking stops. This being the longest
jam, it’s a strong part of it.”
.