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SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Forget the sheet music. At Santa Barbara City College, jazz students are learning to trust their ears, find their rhythm and make music together.

It’s part of Santa Barbara City College's Summer Jazz Seminar that’s open to all ages and experience levels. 

"Put the music book away. Put the sheet music away," said Rob Moreno, an SBCC jazz instructor. "Just put your horn together and start playing some melodies that you hear,” said instructor Rob Moreno. 

For seventh grader Zoe Tamayo, that freedom is part of what makes jazz so much fun.

"I like how you get to really make the music your own, and it's not like really strict about like, oh, you have to play this composition this way," Tamayo said.

The seminar brings together musicians across generations, creating an environment where students can learn from one another.

David Parker, who lives in Santa Barbara, said he enjoys seeing younger musicians share his enthusiasm for jazz.

"I like the fact that we've got the younger people in here, and it's really nice to see people that are enthused," Parker said.

For 10th grader Dean Plowman, playing as a group is the highlight of the class.

"The best part of this class to me is like playing as a group, because it's a big difference between practicing on your own or with a recording and then playing with other people," Plowman said.

Plowman said the experience is also helping him work toward a bigger dream of writing his own music.

"I've always kind of wanted to write my own songs," he said. "I feel like this class and like jazz and being in a band really helps."

The class also pushes students to learn by doing.

"It throws you in the water and it goes, okay, it's now swim. And you either learn to swim or you drown," said jazz student Paul Schiess.

Just two weeks into the class, Schiess said he has already learned about theory and improvisation.

Moreno said students don't necessarily need to understand all the theory before they begin playing.

"You don't need theory. If you can hear all this stuff," Moreno said. "So you can just sidestep that whole thing and deal with it later if you want."

At the heart of the seminar is the idea that musicians learn by playing together — listening, responding and finding the music as a group.

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By Sarah Ferris, Allison Gordon, CNN

(CNN) — In the insular world of Maine politics, it’s known as the “water bottle incident.”

The moment happened some five years ago when then-state Senate president Troy Jackson clashed with fellow Democrats during a private meeting inside the state capitol. Jackson, a gruff former logger who has now catapulted into position as the state’s likely Democratic nominee for US Senate, grew so angry with one female lawmaker that he hurled a plastic water bottle.

That’s where the stories diverge.

The female legislator told colleagues that the incident deeply frightened her because she felt Jackson was aiming to hit her with the bottle, according to five sources who learned of the incident shortly after it occurred. That legislator was distraught as she left the meeting that day; months later she decided not to run for reelection in part, she told colleagues, because of Jackson’s conduct, three sources said.

Jackson’s campaign acknowledged to CNN on Monday that he had thrown the water bottle during the meeting but disputed he had lobbed it in anyone’s direction.

“Troy Jackson is passionate and deeply invested in the people and policies he advocates for,” the campaign said in a statement. “Over 22 years in public office, there have been moments when he let his frustration get the better of him. When that happened, he took responsibility and apologized directly at the time. “

The statement said that an eyewitness recalled “the bottle was thrown away from everyone and struck no one.” The campaign said it was referring to Mark Lawrence, a state senator in the room for the confrontation, who told CNN that he saw the bottle being thrown away from others in the room.

Either way, the incident has raised vigorous debates within Maine’s Democratic establishment still reeling from its previous nominee for Senate, Graham Platner, dropping out after a former girlfriend accused him of rape and other former partners accused him of physical intimidation and other alarming behavior, allegations he has denied.

Jackson has not been accused of any physical abuse or criminal wrongdoing, and even his critics are quick to separate his conduct in the Maine statehouse from the allegations against Platner. All five people who described the thrown water bottle were Democrats involved in local politics who requested anonymity for fear of retribution.

In a later Democratic caucus meeting, Jackson did address the water bottle incident and apologized, though it was not enough for some of the female lawmaker’s allies, according to two people in the room.

The water bottle clash, which was first reported by the Washington Post, was not a one-off for a lawmaker also known for pounding on desks, storming out of rooms, getting into shouting matches with members of his own party and swearing at colleagues, sources told CNN – with one ex-colleague resorting to recording meetings out of concerns over his behavior. Critics say his brash conduct, particularly with female colleagues, raises alarm bells about his temperament as the nominee for a key Senate race.

“It felt like he was using his body and his voice to make people fearful,” said the former colleague who described recording meetings with him. “I was in a room multiple times where he escalated the situation with both the intent and natural ability to really intimidate using his physical presence.” (She said she did not ultimately keep the recordings because Jackson did not exhibit any concerning behavior in those meetings.)

Jackson’s team