From an open stage at Wally’s Cafe to a citywide program connecting generations.
Student Music Project grew out of the live-music tradition at Wally’s Cafe Jazz Club, where student musicians have learned by performing alongside experienced artists. That jam-session tradition dates back to the early 1960s and has given generations of emerging musicians a real stage.
What began as an open jam session became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to youth education, senior engagement, and community connection through live music. Today, Student Music Project combines music education with senior social engagement, digital-safety training, shared meals, and fresh-food access — on the bandstand, inside senior residences, and in community rooms across Boston.
Our History
The milestones below trace that journey, decade by decade.
Wally’s Cafe opens in Boston and becomes an important part of the city’s jazz and cultural history — a welcoming home for live music and generations of emerging and professional musicians.
Wally’s Cafe begins hosting the live jam sessions that would become a Boston institution — first at the club’s original location and later across the street at its current home on Massachusetts Avenue. Developing musicians learn on stage alongside working artists, listening, improvising, and collaborating in a real professional environment.
The music-development effort becomes more organized as the Student to Student Music Project begins building a defined educational and mentorship model around the Wally’s Cafe jam sessions — a bridge between music education and real-world performance experience.
Student to Student Music Project and Jam Session, Inc. receives federal recognition as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, establishing the foundation for expanded educational and community programming.
The organization develops opportunities for student musicians through performances, mentorship, seminars, and interaction with experienced artists. Wally’s Cafe remains an important training ground where musicians strengthen their performance skills while joining Boston’s larger music community.
The challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic reinforce the importance of connection, access, and community-based programming. The mission begins expanding beyond performance alone — using music as a vehicle for education, engagement, wellness, and stronger community relationships.
Student Music Project expands its focus to include programming for older adults, bringing live musicians directly into senior residences and community settings to create opportunities for social connection, shared meals, entertainment, and meaningful engagement.
The Senior Music & Lunch Project grows into a signature community program. Live bands, meals, conversation, and community engagement are brought directly to older adults, including residents who may face mobility challenges or have limited opportunities to attend cultural events outside their communities.
Student Music Project expands relationships with senior housing communities, community organizations, musicians, public agencies, and nonprofit partners throughout Boston — increasingly connecting three parts of the mission: music, mentorship, and community.
Live Jam Sessions at Wally’s Cafe continue alongside expanding educational music seminars and the Senior Music & Lunch Project. New initiatives are developed to meet additional community needs — Senior Shield, helping older adults strengthen their digital-safety skills against online scams and fraud, and Fresh to Door, connecting older adults with fresh food and essential resources.
Student Music Project is evolving from a traditional music-education nonprofit into a broader intergenerational community organization — connecting emerging musicians with performance and mentorship, older adults with music, meals, and community, and partners with programs delivered where people live, learn, and gather. From the stage at Wally’s Cafe to senior communities across Boston, our work remains grounded in the belief that music can educate, inspire, connect, and strengthen communities.
The Next Chapter
As Student Music Project grows, we are building new partnerships, reaching new communities, developing new musicians, and creating programs that use music and education to bring generations together. Music Connects Generations.
