Meet two Chattanoogans who took different paths to musicianship

From cultural icons like Usher and Bessie Smith to established acts like Call Me Spinster and Strung Like a Horse, Chattanooga serves as a launchpad for incredible musical talents, whether they’ve been striking a chord for decades or are just starting down the road to success . Here, meet two passionate musicians who call the Scenic City home.

Stringing Us Along:

Jasper Sewell

For a May broadcast of NPR’s music program “From the Top,” Jasper Sewell didn’t just perform “Filter,” composed by Daniel Bernard Roumain, he embodied it. As Sewell sped his bow across his violin’s strings, his fingers rippling across the instrument’s fingerboard, he expressed both intensity and calm. One might expect this level of performance from a seasoned virtuoso, but perhaps not from a 19-year-old who just graduated high school.

Although performing in a recording studio differs from performing in a concert hall, Sewell says his goals as a musician remain the same.

“I want the listeners to still feel the energy and the effects that the composer had for that piece,” Sewell, a 2024 Chattanooga Music Club Scholarship winner, says of his performance on the program.

Sewell has played violin since the age of 4. It was his mother who took notice of his musical inclinations, he says. Originally from Austin, Texas, Sewell took lessons through the University of Texas. When his family moved to Chattanooga in 2020, Sewell attended Chattanooga High School Center for Creative Arts and became involved with the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera, first through its youth symphony and eventually through a paid contract with its main ensemble.

“At first, you go in there, and you feel really young, and you’re just trying not to get too noticed,” Sewell says of joining the ensemble.

Working with the symphony has not only given Sewell insight into the operations of the professional music world, it has also allowed him to connect with and learn from veteran musicians, providing a preview of what a career in music might look like. As Sewell sets off to further his music education at Rice University, he says he doesn’t have a specific job in mind; Rather, he is focusing on honing his skills to become the best musician he can be.

Chattanooga’s music scene differs from other cities in that it is less cutthroat and emphasizes helping younger musicians reach their full potential, Sewell says. Taking inspiration from his teachers and fellow musicians here, Sewell says music isn’t about achieving fame and fortune but is more about enriching the lives of others.

Check out Sewell’s “From the Top” performance at youtube.com/watch?v=MKF5E2ZO-M4

A Trained Musician:

Jim Jordan

When he’s not pursuing his passions of music and art, Jim Jordan can likely be found on the railroad. Dressed in a pristine white dress coat with a black bow tie, Jordan, 80, is a server with the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, a job he’s had for the past several years. Referring to himself as a “starving artist,” Jordan keeps working on train dining cars because that job provides a steady income and keeps him active.

“I work with teenagers. Here I am, an old man, but I hang with them; they can’t hang with me,” Jordan says, exemplifying his cool demeanor that pairs well with his predominant music genre: jazz.

In a jazz scene dominated by saxophonists, pianists and brass players, Jordan sticks to the clarinet, which he learned to play while in school in Red Bank. In his decades-long music career, Jordan has sat in with skilled musicians, not just in Chattanooga but also in cities like New Orleans, Kansas City and Memphis, even playing at BB King’s Blues Club on the famous Beale Street.

“Some of the cats I’ve sat in with, they’re so freaking awesome,” Jordan says. “I was just a nervous wreck, and I’m thinking, my God, why am I even doing this? But, that’s where you cut your teeth. You’re either going to get better playing with those people, or you just give it up.”

Jordan’s talents extend beyond the realm of music. He is also an accomplished artist, having made numerous detailed paintings that depict trains and railroads, motorcycles and more. When he travels to show his art, he brings along his clarinet so he can sit in for shows in the cities where he finds himself. For Jordan, art and music are the glue that holds the world together, he says.

Like Sewell, Jordan says Chattanooga’s music scene is different from other places — “It’s not Nashville, and it’s not Atlanta,” he says, but there’s certainly no shortage of talent here. He says to support your local musicians.

To see Jordan at work (as a musician, not a server), find him sitting in for performances at WanderLinger Brewing Co. on Sundays or visit his website, jordanart.com.