Marsalis Jams is a program of the Music Education Initiative, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to furthering music education in schools and colleges and to seeking innovative ways to enhance public and community support for the arts. MEI was co-founded by jazz musicians Branford Marsalis and Harry Connick, Jr., and Marsalis Jams is its first program. In 2008, Marsalis Jams established Marsalis Berklee Jams, an ongoing program with the Berklee College of Music that brings bands to the school’s newly created performance space Café 939.