The sign gives it away. In an apartment complex on Church Street, up a few flights of stairs, you’ll find a sheet of paper duct-taped to an otherwise inconspicuous wooden door. On it, scrawled in red marker, reads: “CHURCH ST. SESSIONS (Shoes off please!)”

It’s obvious the space is occupied by musicians. Upon entering, “Pinocchio” by the Roy Hargrove Quintet plays softly in the background. There’s a jazz poster on the wall, a band gig flyer pinned to the fridge, and tucked into a corner of the small living room, the real giveaways: a shiny black drum kit, a music stand and wooden shelves housing six neatly displayed jazz vinyl albums. 

This corner of the apartment serves as a backdrop to Church Street Sessions’ jazz nights. The quartet, formed by four Bienen roommates in the jazz studies program — fourth-years Oliver Koenig (saxophone), Jun Byun (trumpet) and Liam Powers (bass) and third-year Calvin Simmers (drums) — has hosted three evening jazz sessions since the beginning of the school year, all in the comfort of their own home. They’re set to hold their final session of the quarter Thursday, Nov. 20.

Koenig, Byun and Powers met during their first year at Northwestern. Simmers entered the fold later on by way of a mutual friend and recent NU graduate. The formation of the cordless quartet was, in retrospect, less of a deliberate choice than a serendipitous result of who happened to move in.

As soon as the members get out of evening practice, they hurry back to the apartment, fix a quick dinner and clear out the space. They have to push the sofas aside and unfurl an extra carpet to accommodate the 40-something people who will soon claim every patch of the floor and spill into the hallway entrance. Doors open at 8 p.m., music begins at 8:30 p.m. They illuminate the space with candlelight in lieu of the apartment’s fluorescent fixtures, and crack open the windows.

The audience shifts from night to night, Koenig said, but the composition is reliably eclectic: friends and classmates, music people and non-music people, all settling into the same living room. Powers said he once met a guy on the street sporting a pair of Lightning McQueen Crocs. “By the time we got to the end of the block,” Powers said, “I had already gotten his number and invited him to the next one.” His bright red Crocs have been in attendance for the past two sessions.

The group wanted to stray away from an insiders-only audience made up of jazz students, Koenig said. That impulse informed their decision to host more intentional, constructed performances — something that would resonate with a broader audience — rather than open-ended jam sessions where other musicians might jump in. 

”I want people to be able to see and hear up close stuff that they wouldn’t maybe listen to everyday,” Koenig said.

The quartet revolves their sessions around themes. Last time, the night featured the recent records of jazz pianist and composer Sean Mason. They also keep in mind the guest performers they have — fellow classmates — and curate the setlist accordingly.

“We just pick out the stuff we really enjoy and that we think is cool,” Simmers said. “I think that comes across to people.”

The informality of jazz jam sessions was something the group embraced. In a more traditional concert hall, they noted, the audience feels more removed. But it’s nearly impossible to feel detached from your crowd when they are shoulder-to-shoulder in your living room.

”It’s nice to be casual about it, rather than have jazz be a strictly formal set,” Byun said.

The closeness of the setting lends itself to unique moments. In a recent session, as they were playing the ballad “Lullaby” by Sean Mason, everyone got their phone flashlights out and swayed along to the music. “My friend started dancing [during] one of the songs, too,” Byun recalled.

During their second session, Powers’ hands cramped up, rendering him unable to play the bass. 

“Our friend, Tim, was sitting right there… and he plays bass guitar,” Powers said. “I was like, ‘Dude, I can’t play.’ And so, he knew what to do — he went to my room, grabbed the bass guitar out of the closet, plugged it in and played the rest of the second set.”

It’s just as much about connection as it is about music. As Simmers puts it, “That’s a semi-goal — bringing together our friends and just a collection of good people.” 

The nights are punctuated by an intermission where the crowd can mingle and meet each other.

“I love intermission,” Koenig said. “I feel like that’s when the ice has been broken, the vibes are good after the first set — I’m relieved because we have the sound of the night in our ears. And then, everyone chats for a while.”

During the evenings of Church Street Sessions, there are no rules and no dress codes. There is no requirement for jazz knowledge, no velvet rope culture. The jazz defines the night, but the people sitting cross-legged beside each other are just as central to the experience. Church Street Sessions delivers music stripped of its formality, and at the end of the night, it’s a place where people can simply listen to good music without pretense.

“I think there’s something very inviting to people, rather than getting dressed up and going to a jazz club,” Koenig said. “Just seeing your friends play jazz in their socks.”