About & All That Jazz
We are back.
The best little lindy-and-blues event the West Coast has to offer is back for 2024, with three nights of dancing and cozy vibes.
&ATJ is all about fantastic jazz music and the social partner dancing that goes along with it. Specifically mid-to-slow tempo groovy swing, NOLA jazz, jazzy blues, and torch songs.
This is not a crossover event but rather a place for people who adore both lindy and blues and think that doing both in one night is just about the best thing ever.
Returning to Oakland for the third time, we're excited to announce that we'll be at the incredibly cool Omni Commons.
This is a small event, focused on curating an intimate experience. We will be limiting the number of tickets sold, and have sold out in years past.
Get your ticket now.Music
One of the most Music will range from "mostly lindy" to "mostly blues", with excellent DJs from across the North America taking care of us each night.
Your DJs this year are:
- Brittney Caraway (Denver)
- Grey Armstrong (SF Bay)
- Sarah Elise (SF Bay)
- Paul Loschak (Boston)
- Kelly Howard (SF Bay)
- Emory Roehrkasse (Denver)
- and Mark Carpenter (SF Bay)
Music Expectations Fine Print
General Expectations
80% of the music at the event will be “jazz” or “jazz related”. Primarily (groovy) swing, NOLA jazz, jazzy blues, and torch songs.
The other ish 20% will be jazz-inspired things like soul, gospel, vintage R&B, funk, boogie woogie, and the like. Nothing approaching EDM or “alt blues”. While “trip hop” and “electro swing” may be jazz inspired genres, those will be not be played either.
Lindy / Swing
The swing will be on the groovy and slow side. There'll be a good split between slow (< 120bpm) and medium-tempo (120-150bpm), with some faster ones thrown in at the DJ's discretion.
Blues
Delta-/Chicago-/Piedmont-/Rock- Blues all have their place, but we'll focus exclusively on the jazzier side of the genre and open it to include NOLA Jazz and Torch Songs. This probably means no electric guitar or harmonica. Probably. There'll be a nice mix of slow (< 80bmp) and mid-tempo (80-120) songs, with some faster ones thrown in at the DJ's discretion.
Schedule
DJ'd Dancing: 9pm–3am, Friday-Sunday
Friday | Saturday | Sunday | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
9pm | Mostly Lindy | Paul | Grey | Emory + Kelly |
10pm | Paul + Brittney |
Grey + Brittney |
Emory + Kelly |
|
11pm | 50 / 50 | Brittney | Brittney | Sarah Elise + Paul |
12am | Grey | Brittney + Mark |
Sarah Elise + Paul |
|
1am | Mostly Blues | Grey + Kelly |
Mark + Sarah Elise |
DJ Free For All |
2am | Kelly |
Sarah Elise |
||
3am | Event Ends |
Venue & Map
The Omni Commons
4799 Shattuck Ave
Oakland, CA 94609
The Omni Commons
The Omni Commons is collective community space in the Temescal neighborhood of Oakland, dedicated to a shared political vision of more equitable spaces. With solid wood floors and surrounded by a balcony (and library!), the 3000+ square foot balroom walks the line between vintage and punk. We will add to the intimacy of this already cozy space with couches, rugs, and nooks for socializing.
This venue is wheelchair accessible. For more information please refer to the Omni Commons webste.
Food & Drink
There will be snacks served all night. Fancy non-alcoholic drinks will served for a small (cash/venmo) donation.
Parking & Transit
Parking in the area can be difficult, we suggest that you carpool and don't leave anything visible inside your car, or take a Lyft. The MacArthur BART is a 10-minute walk, though the last train is between 12:30-1:00am and you may not want to walk alone so late at night.
Register
We are currently limiting attendance to 200. Unlike past years, we will will have a registration table and friendly volunteers to help check you in. You can purchase tickets at the door but we would appreciate anyone who can register ahead of time
We are asking for $75/person for the entire weekend, but you are encouraged to pay more or less depending on your financial needs.
Registration Fine Print
Ticket Price
&ATJ is a pay-what-you-can event. For this event to run there will need to be money to pay the venue, DJs, and organizers — so if you can afford the ticket price of $75, great. If you can afford more, great. If you cannot, great — pay what you can (including $0).
Volunteering
Volunteering at &ATJ is handled differently than most events. Because we are a pay-what-you-can event, we don't conflate volunteering and getting in for free. Regardless of how much you pay to attend this event, we would very much appreciate your help. You can indicate you are interested in volunteering on the registration form.
Registration & Waitlist
Tickets will be guaranteed for the first 200 registrants. A waitlist will be created for those who register after. We may have at-the-door ticket sales depending on the number of tickets presold
Every guest needs to be registered separately, though the same email address can be used for multiple guests.
Transferrals & Revocations
Due to the limited nature of &ATJ, transferring your ticket to another person will be allowed only as long as the event is not sold out. After that time ticket transfers will not be allowed. Instead, you may seek a refund up to one week before the event thereby allowing someone on the waitlist to attend.
If there have been allegations of sexual assault directed towards you (in- or out-side of the dance scene) and the involved parties request that you not attend then your ticket will be revoked and a full refund given. Such revocations can only happen prior to three weeks before the event.
We will also be attempting to mediate compromises between any parties who cannot simultaneously attend, but we will not be attempting to resolve the underlying conflict in time for this event.
Transparency & Who Gets PaidDJs (excluding organizers) are paid $50/hour. Volunteers aren't paid but are compensated at $15/hour. Other staff volunteer their time. Profits will be split evenly by the the main organizers (Mark Carpenter, Emory Roehrkasse) and Grief To Action (a fantastic organization commited to making the world a better place).
COVID-19 Policies
Our goals COVID-wise are to minimize the likelyhood this will become a super-spreader event or lead to serious injury or death. Given the current spiking cases, the severity of current COVID-19 variants, and vaccination efficasy our policy is as follows.
To attend this event you must:
- Rapid test at the door (or within 2 hours of entry).
We will provide tests for whomever needs them.
There are no other requirements.
Resources used to make this decision: Dorry's Thoughts on Dance and the Pandemic (FB Group), local COVID-19 cases and death statistics (SF.GOV), the microCOVID Project, attending and witnessing the policies and impact of other events, and various personal and public discussions.
You are welcome to reach out to me for questions or concerns. My contact info is below.