It's not about how you sound, it's about how you hear.

Jazz, as an aural art form, relies on the communication of master to novice in order for it to perpetuate itself, grow and remain relevant as a cultural expression.

The chance for a budding jazz performer to gain exposure to the actual process of jazz performance and to experience, through playing alongside mentors, the art of communicating using the language is something that is reserved for a select few of those living in large cities in the USA and Europe - places where jazz is part of the culture, and its performance is abundant, current and evolving.

In most other parts of the world the options for the young jazz lover to learn the art of real jazz performance are either through absorbing chunks of recorded language or enrolling in one of the growing numbers of jazz college courses. While both of these things undoubtedly have their value, without an environment in which jazz is alive and in current use the result is either mere academic understanding or the assimilation of nothing but the external husk of the art form.

All the right words but with no purpose or meaning.

Grooveworks provides the answer. The basic concept of creating a functioning ensemble led by a seasoned jazz "mentor" with a purely artistic agenda creates an unprecedented forum for real musical development. Each class unit is based around creating a performing ensemble. The ultimate goal of Grooveworks is to enable music students to attain a fully self-expressive, eclectic and world-class writing and performance concept in Southeast Asia through intensive coaching and performing alongside internationally active and acclaimed jazz artists.

For the local music scenes of Singapore and Kuala Lumpur this allows a new element of creative purpose at a high level to establish itself in the live music options, offering an opportunity to witness, at various stages of development, the formation of a new wave of musicians presenting their own expressive agenda. This in turn should inevitably influence the demand for - and concept of - real live music in the region.

The teaching concept is designed to close the gap between jazz theory and practice by aligning all theory to practical results and focusing all classes toward a weekly performance outlet. The course is led by Greg Lyons and is offered iat all levels: The main program is aimed at intermediate to advanced level performers, with a focus on current musical trends and creations, and developing language beyond the standard forms; The Junior program is aimed at beginner and intermediate players with a focus on refining standard jazz language; the elementary groups are also aimed at giving beginner musicians a focus for their instrumental studies.

The main course runs in 8-week sessions and now builds toward a final video showcase performance as an outcome of the 8-week process of development.

Elements covered by the main group are based around preparing for performance, but touch on jazz theory, composition, arranging and different approaches to improvisation. The bottom line is always what works in practice. Each element is presented only in a way that it expands the performer's understanding of the current repertoire and is redundant until it has been internalised so that it can feed the players ability to communicate viscerally within the context.