Jazzing Up Dunster Cafe

Last Tuesday night, while most Harvard students were reading, writing, studying or indulging in some form of procrastination, a group of about 40 students assembled in the Dunster House Junior Common Room (JCR) for the weekly musical offering at the 'Dunster Cafe.' This week's performer, W. Pierce Woodward '99, played acoustic guitar while singing his clever, sometimes poignant lyrics. "Isn't this great?" enthused audience members whispered to one another. They were thrilled by both the performer and the atmosphere--the Dunster JCR, had the vibe of...uh, well...a cafe.

Dunster Cafe is a student-organized weekly performance time featuring the talents of undergraduate musicians and offering coffee and study-break snacks as an added enticement. "There are two parts to it," says Michelle Chen '99, the event's current organizer. "I want to provide a relaxed atmosphere for musicians to perform and also to provide something for the House, a place where people can chill, take a study break, and hear good music."

According to Chen the Dunster Cafe tradition originated three or four years ago when a bunch of Dunster residents who liked to play jazz together made it into something of a House institution. Last winter, after a period of Cafe inactivity, Chen took over from Daniel A. Horwitz '98, the previous organizer.

"When I got here as a sophomore they had the Cafe nights really regularly and it was the thing that made me really love Dunster; to me it distinguished the House from the others," Chen says. "When I saw [Horwitz] struggling with it, I thought Cafe night was such a cool thing that I had to keep it going."

This semester, the Cafe has stayed close to its jazz roots, hosting a bi-weekly jam session where jazz musicians from the audience can play with the with the 'house band,' organized by Daniel A. Cousin '99.

"The Dunster Cafe is great because there are few, if any, places for jazz musicians who aren't in the Harvard Jazz Band to get a chance to play," says Cousin, who plays bass in the 'house band'. "The jam gives people an outlet to practice their playing and hopefully improve, or at least take a nice break from studying."

Cousin says there are no comparable weekly outlets for jazz musicians to go and jam, although some Houses organize similar events for special occasions such as Arts First. Woodward has played at Loker, but prefers the Cafe. "It's homey," he says. "People from Dunster wander through in their slippers and the walls are lined with couches."

Andrew C. Eggers '99, a musician with a great deal of experience playing on campus and in Cambridge, says that the Dunster Cafe is "the only thing that's open as in you can bring your horn and play." Eggers adds, however, that other, more organized oportunities do exist for student musicians, including special dinners in dining halls, or at House formals.

Chen says she is trying move the Cafe beyond jazz this year to include more musical genres. This semester will see more folk/pop and a funk. Chen does not hold auditions, insisting that the jazz jam sessions remain open to all.

"It's a word-of mouth thing in terms of getting people to perform," Chen says. "There are so many talented people around that chances are whoever you get is going to be pretty talented."