This September marks the 20th anniversary of the Junior Jazz Academy. Initially beginning as a Saturday morning jazz workshop for young musicians at London’s Royal Academy of Music (RAM), it’s served as an often life-changing entry point into jazz education for 14-to-18-year-olds. Importantly, it’s welcomed players from a wide variety of backgrounds. And with Mercury Music Prize nominees and Grammy Award winners among its alumni, it’s not hard to see how important it’s been over the last two decades. Names who started there include: Kit Downes, Jacob Collier, Nubya Garcia, Joe Armon-Jones, Michael Kiwanuka, Josh Blackmore, Ife Ogunjobi, Femi Koleoso, Rosie Turton, Tom Walsh, James Copus, Flo Moore, Daisy George, Will Barry, Alex Ridout, Tom Barford and Rosie Frater-Taylor, along with many more who have taken their first steps into…
