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Yale Alumni College is a Yale Alumni volunteer-led initiative
Welcome to Yale Alumni College’s Newsletter. Over the past eleven years, we have become a national community and we hope to strengthen our connections by keeping you informed.
Gary Schlesinger ‘73 – Chair Yale Alumni College
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Jazz: A personal journey with
James Polsky '87By Patricia Dorff
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James Polsky ‘87 got his love of jazz from his mother, a very good pianist whose lifelong dream was to be a nightclub pianist. She never played at a nightclub, but James grew up listening to cassette tapes that she had. He was also lucky enough to go to elementary school with a guy named Sasha Lewis, who is the son of the Modern Jazz Quartet’s John Lewis. He, Sasha, and Jonny King—who wrote the book What Is Jazz, which James used in his fall 2023 Yale Alumni College (YACOL) class, The Landscape of Jazz—all played together in a band in high school. Jazz struck something deep in him. It was the rhythm. “It made me want to bounce right there in the groove that I was hearing.”
For James, teaching his YACOL course was informed by how he came to love jazz. He believes that you want to learn about things that you like in a visceral way. “Jazz hits you somewhere inside, and then you want more of it. But you can’t just go on a wild goose chase or you will get discouraged. You have to be informed by what you like. So, I would listen to something and think, I love this pianist. I would find out who the pianist was, and go down to DiscomatRecords, back in the day, and every week I would pore through the list of the artists that I liked to see if there was a new album there.”
James’s teaching philosophy is simple: “The purpose of the course is for me to speak with the students, each one of them, to find out what part of the song they like, and then try to give them something they can identify so that it leads them to the next song, the next idiom they might like, because there are all these different idioms within jazz. And I want them to find what they love, what moves them, because there is a bond among people who love jazz, as if everyone else is a civilian. Someone once asked me, about jazz musicians, ‘Why can’t they just play the music the way it’s written the first time?’ And I replied, ‘I don’t know, why couldn’t Picasso just paint the horse like it appeared to us the first time?’”
Jazz is deeply personal. James lost his brother two years ago. On the day he heard about his brother’s cancer diagnosis, he played that night. It was a revelation. “I swear I’ve never had a more transcendent night, alternating between sorrow and joy. Words can’t capture what happened that night. You can only talk about the experience. I was with musicians I really cared about, and the music was flowing through us. It moved me more than I had ever been moved. I don’t know how to describe it. I also think that when you’re listening, or playing jazz, there’s an immersion that’s total. It’s not like you try to put everything out of your mind, but if you’re engaged with the music in the way that you should be, everything else exits your mind. I notice that when I play jazz well as I can play it, I am physically depleted. You just have nothing left emotionally. That’s what I hope art should bring everyone, no matter the medium.”
After graduating from Yale University in 1987 and a brief stint as a lawyer, James could not shake his love for jazz. It was a constant presence. In the mid-1990s, he opened the Jazz Standard on East 27th Street. He readily admits that he had no clue what he was getting himself into. “Running a jazz club is not the same as liking jazz. You have to negotiate with your idols. I was ill equipped, but part of it went well, and I joined forces with my cousin Danny Meyer as a partner.” In total, the Jazz Standard ran for twenty-five years, until the landlord unilaterally canceled their lease during the pandemic.
Along the way, James also started a nonprofit called Keyedup in 2016. He had been playing with musicians for many years, and he saw that it was almost impossible for them to make a livable wage playing jazz. He wanted to do something to change that. “These are people who do the most difficult thing that I’m aware of, the most beautiful thing that I’m aware of, and they make peanuts. I was with a guy and, there was cancelation, he said that if he didn’t get paid that $50 cancelation fee, he wasn’t going to be able to make his rent for a room—this was a guy who had toured the world playing music. And I said to myself, there’s something off here. There is a disconnect here—how can it be that you’re among the best in this art form, which is America’s greatest art form, and you have to survive on only a $50 a night gig? I couldn’t wrap my head around this idea. So, in the midst of the pandemic, my idea was to reopen the Jazz Standard as part of the nonprofit, with all the profits flowing from Jazz Standard, as well as donations, to help propagate jazz all around the city and, actually, all around the country.”
James and his partner Danny are on a mission. They are about to launch a capital campaign to reopen the Jazz Standard in service to the nonprofit, Jazz Generation. They hope to reopen within the next two years. He wants people to know that naming rights for the stage are for sale.
According to James, this is all about making jazz a more viable career so that when a young, super-talented person comes to his or her parents and says, “I want to play this music,” they won’t say, “How could you do this to us?”
“With our nonprofit, we are trying to change a $100 gig into a $200 gig, or even a $300 gig—and if we do that, if you’re a really talented musician, you should be able to make a go at it economically, and if you can do that, and play it regularly, then the music will reach its deserving height. That’s what I want to see happen by the time I die.”
James also has an efficient way to do it. “We are right now at about thirty gigs around the city where we don’t pay the occupancy costs, the employment costs for the bar, the restaurant. We pay musicians directly, supplementing their pay. Our shows are all around the city. They are in underserved communities. These gigs are in places that already exist, that don’t charge a cover. The musicians are finding their own gigs. They are organizing the repertoire. We just try to increase their pay and get out of the way.”
James welcomes everyone to join him and the band at the bar Down and Out, located at 503 East 6th Street, where he plays every Wednesday night with a variety of great musicians, and introduce yourself. You’re in for a real treat.
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Yale Alumni Reconnect
Through Theater and Dialogue
Photos and story by Carissa Violante
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This February, amidst the illuminated marquees and roaring crowds of Times Square in New York City, Yale alumni and friends gathered for a once-in-a-lifetime learning experience celebrating the arts with the vibrant Yale Alumni College community. This event offered attendees an opportunity to immerse themselves in the rich tapestry of Broadway while engaging with themes of resistance, joy, and love.
The afternoon kicked off at the Music Box Theater with a stirring performance of Purlie Victorious, starring the acclaimed Leslie Odom, Jr. as the titular character and Billy Eugene Jones ’03 MFA portraying Gitlow Judson. First performed in 1961 and written by African American playwright, actor, and activist Ossie Davis, the play explores racism and segregation in the American South through the lens of satire. A vibrant, powerful, and playful exploration of themes still resonant today, the play captivated the audience with its sharp wit and powerful messages.
Following the performance, attendees gathered at the Museum of Broadway for an intimate talkback session with Dr. Hasna Muhammad, daughter of playwright Ossie Davis. Dr. Muhammad provided insightful commentary on the play's historical and cultural significance. She encouraged questions from the group and shared personal anecdotes and reflections on her father's work, emphasizing the play's enduring relevance.
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“What was the message my father was writing to me?” she shared, adding, “My father believed humor could be a tool for resistance. It was important for us to sit together and laugh together.”
She highlighted how the play addresses topics like gender, religion, and equality, underscoring its significance in contemporary dialogues about black joy and love. “In this version of the play, the love in the relationships is more evident,” she said. “The play is part of that conversation.”
“Now is the time — it's the perfect, perfect time — for the play to be seen,” she said.
Among the attendees was Heidi Guzmán ’14, who was struck by the timely significance of the play’s themes during Black History Month. “It was just really wonderful to see a Black story played by Black actors who shared this really wonderful story and left it all on the stage.”
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Andrew Burgie ’87, remarked on the play's reflection of ongoing societal challenges. “The thing that was interesting when I was watching the show was the sad truth that some of the things that were issues back then are still issues now.” He appreciated the authenticity and insights brought by Dr. Muhammad, adding “It's always nice to have people that have authenticity.”
“And as far as Dr. Muhammad's ability to just talk about how she was experiencing it and then hearing her takeaways. She's passing on this consciousness through just being in the same room with the people talking about it.” he said. “I'm glad to see that there's an opportunity and space for that.”
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“The experience was amazing. I thought each of the performances and the collective performance was extremely powerful and a story that was necessary to be retold,” said Tracy Layne ’16 PhD. When asked why others should attend Yale Alumni College events in the future, she noted “This is a great opportunity to not just support and touch base with other Yale alumni, but also a great opportunity to engage with other Yale alumni, including those from the diaspora, at events that highlight diverse stories.”
The afternoon concluded with a self-guided tour through the Museum of Broadway. Here, Yale alumni and friends were able to explore the rich history of theater in New York City by encountering dedicated exhibits, costuming, prop pieces, and more. A discerning eye might spot several references to the Yale Repertory Theatre throughout the museum’s collection.
Reflecting on the day’s events, Lauren Summers, Senior Director of Lifelong Learning & Travel, said “it is a gift to have people among us who know these stories.”
With 40 attendees, the event not only served as a platform for lifelong learning but also fostered a sense of community among Yale alumni who share a passion for the arts. The success of the outing and the enthusiastic response from participants underscore Yale Alumni College's commitment to offering enriching experiences that build connections and spark dialogue.
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Yale Alumni College offers events and in-person and online seminar courses led by esteemed Yale-affiliated faculty, open to all Yale alumni, their families, and friends. These programs provide a vibrant intellectual atmosphere for connecting with fellow Yalies worldwide, covering topics from art history to Italian cinema.
Registration for the 2024 Spring Semester at Yale Alumni College is now open, offering a unique chance to engage in vibrant discussions, explore thought-provoking content, and connect with a community of curious minds.
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On Ageing
By Carroll Haymon ‘90
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I enrolled in my first Yale alumni course this spring on a whim. I had recently left my job and was casting about for ways to make life meaningful while resisting the temptation to jump right into my next big professional endeavor, when the YACOL course catalog landed in my inbox. Craving a reset—a response many of us shared in the late stages of a global pandemic—I was drawn to a course on the Art and Science of Relaxation, as it embodied many of my interests: music, sleep, yoga, meditation, nature, and exercise, along with a healthy dose of physiology and neuroscience. Besides, I clearly needed to relax. Sounds easy—but I had 50+ years of habit telling me otherwise.
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I am a family physician and geriatrician, and in the final weeks of the course, I attended the American Geriatrics Society Annual Scientific Meeting in California. When I told Professor Wright I would be missing a session, I offered to bring back any insights from the meeting that seemed relevant to our class discussions. I thought sharing those thoughts with my classmates would be a great idea. What follows is a brief summary of my talk.
The diagnosis and management of dementia has been a longstanding clinical interest of mine. As I heard about some of the latest science, I was struck by how much overlap there was between the course material we had been discussing, and what we know about the prevention of this very common disease of the aging brain. As a new class of medications to treat Alzheimer’s disease (expensive monoclonal antibodies delivered by IV infusion with only marginal clinical benefit) makes headlines this year, it seems appropriate to pause and consider how much more we might invest in prevention—for ourselves, and our communities.
Twelve “modifiable risk factors” for dementia could account for around 40 percent of worldwide dementias. Those risk factors are less education, hypertension, hearing impairment, smoking, obesity, depression, physical inactivity, diabetes, infrequent social contact, excessive alcohol use, head injury, and air pollution. Recommendations, on both a personal and policy level, are as follows:
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Figure from Lancet 2020, Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd
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As is nearly always true in health, prevention is about policy and individuals; and those in poverty are at greatest risk.
For my classmates, Professor Wright, and me, taking this YACOL course inspired us to keep learning, stay physically active, maintain social connections, and develop strategies to improve sleep and mood, which could be the right track for keeping our brains healthy in our later years, or, at least, improving our skills in the fine art of relaxation. That same strategy could work for you too.
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| Upcoming YACOL Programming
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Join Us in Welcoming Our New Professors
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 | Valerie Hansen teaches premodern Chinese and world history at Yale, where she is the Stanley Woodward Professor of History. She loves teaching because it gives her an opportunity to learn more about primary sources because of the insights of seminar participants. Enjoying travel, she has led YAA trips to India, Central Asia, and most recently Scandinavia. She has lived in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore for extended research stays.
| |  Dr. Noah Charney is a best-selling author of over a dozen books, translated into fourteen languages. He is a professor of art history specializing in art crime, having taught at Yale University, Brown University, and the University of Ljubljana. Charney is also the founder of ARCA, a leading research group focused on crimes against art. He regularly contributes to major publications such as The Guardian and The Art Newspaper. More information can be found at www.noahcharney.com.
| |  | Charles Ludington received his BA in history from Yale in 1987 and his PhD in history from Columbia in 2003. In between, he played professional basketball in France and worked in a variety of wine stores. He is a visiting professor of food history at NYU. His first book was entitled The Politics of Wine in Britain: A New Cultural History (2013). He has also edited Food Fights: How History Matters to Contemporary Food Debates (2019) and The Irish in Eighteenth-Century Bordeaux (2023).
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| Eve Berenblum Goldberg Scholarship
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The board of Yale Alumni College is delighted to announce that our Founder and Emeritus Chairman, Marv Berenblum, ’56 has established a scholarship fund in memory of his daughter, Eve Berenblum Goldberg.
Eve was a remarkable human being who had the courage of her convictions and believed in elevating the younger generations. She was warm, caring and generous, and brought light onto the lives of so many people whom she befriended. Eve would have been excited to know that a Yale Alumni College scholarship foundation had been established in her memory to benefit a deserving group of "Bulldogs of the Last Decade" (BOLD alumni).
Scholarship recipients are able to join Yale Alumni College courses of their choice at no cost. Yale Alumni College aims to assist as many alumni as possible in joining our lifelong learning community each year.
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