Paul Silbergleit’s Wednesday Jazz Jam

Likea good jellyroll, the heart of jazz is the jam. The organized spontaneity andfree-spirited approach to familiar material that can ignite at a jam sessionhas always been emblematic of the music. In healthy jazz scenes, players gettogether regularly to improvise with one another.

Milwaukee hasn’t had a regular jazz jam inyearsuntil last November, when a weekly session debuted on Wednesday nights atTreats,

2221 N. Humboldt Ave.

There had been blues jams and jam-band jams and occasional opportunities formusicians to leap in at other jazz clubs, but nothing comparable to Wednesdaynights at this unassuming bar on the rim of Riverwest.

“Whenyou go on a gig as a sideman, there are certain expectations,” says tenorsaxophonist Jason Goldsmith, a regular at Treats. “When you’re not gettingpaid, that gives you freedom to explore boundaries in a way you might notnormally do.”

TheTreats’ session is organized by a well-known figure in Milwaukee jazz, guitarist Paul Silbergleit. Afaculty member at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, Silbergleit leads trios and quartets and performs straight-aheadjazz in a variety of settings around town. His two CDs, Silberglicity (1996) and MyNew Attitude (2003), have earned a measure of national attention.

Silbergleitcredits Treats’ owner Mark Anthony for originating the idea of the Wednesdaynight session. Although the bar’s front room looks like any local neighborhoodtap, the back room has been refurbished with comfortable couches, photographsof jazz artists on the wall and a bandstand. The core of the project is a houseband with Ethan Bender on bass, Dave Bayles on drums and Silbergleit on guitar.

“Forme, this is not about performing,” says Silbergleit, who has been known to exitthe stage as soon as another guitarist rises from the audience to take hisspot. “I’m there to facilitate the event. I’m the host. I play guitar only asneeded.”

Tothat end, Silbergleit tries to juggle the various players in the house so thatmusicians at various skill levels but comparable interests are groupedtogether. Everyone from big local names to students to unknowns have taken theTreats’ stage in improvised lineups.

“Onbusy weeks, we’ll have continuous music from 9 until closing,” Silbergleitsays. “We’ll have so many musicians rotating onstage that the music never takesa break, even if individual musicians do.”

In addition to the Wednesday JazzJam at Treats, Paul Silbergleit performs with his quartet at Treats on Friday,June 6, and with his trio at Hilo Martini Lounge on Friday, June 20.