Students and community members gathered to watch live jazz and ask questions about music at an event on Saturday.

AACC started the World Class Jazz Series off with a master class featuring John Lee, a professional musician, who hosted an open clinic.

“These events are incredibly important,” Ian Wardenski, the Performing Arts Department chair, said. “Not only for students to hear live music and hear musicians in concert, because it’s what they’re training to do. But also having the opportunities to work with him in a clinic setting.”

This event is part of a month-long series during which the college “brings in guest artists to do clinics and concerts” according to Wardenski.

Lee, the guest artist, said the point of the “master class” was to “talk about ways to develop stronger rhythm for musicians.”

“I talked about something that maybe people don’t do, is play along with recordings and it seems so obvious but, like, a lot of people don’t do it,” Lee, a professor at Towson University, said. “I feel like if you do it, it will really strengthen those skills.”

Nicholas Carico, a second-year music student, said it was exciting to watch Lee play.

“I was looking forward to it, partially because John Lee teaches at Towson and that’s where I’m going,” Carico said. “So there’s a good chance he’ll be teaching me. … You get to see and, kind of, build that connection beforehand.”

“It’s always exciting to hear people who have put so much time and thought into what they’re doing,” Carico said. “Actually hearing them play. It’s something I aspire to do at some point.”