TexasHotJazz.com

Scene on Bourbon Street outside our hotel

Is a week of Trad Jazz in the French Quarter of New Orleans your idea of fun?  If so you should have been with us the first week of August for the first New Orleans Traditional Jazz Camp for Adults!  About sixty of us spent the week jamming, rehearsing, and listening to New Orleans jazz.

Banu Gibson, well known in trad jazz circles, is the force behind the camp. According to Banu, she thought it strange that there was not a jazz camp in New Orleans, the place where jazz was born. Banu decided to change that.  She assembled some of the finest New Orleans trad jazz musicians to lead the campers as we explored trad jazz with an emphasis on New Orleans style of playing. 

The faculty included some truly great players: Connie Jones, Otis Bazoon, David Boeddinghaus, Kerry Lewis, David Sager,Don Vappie, Gerald French, and, of course, Banu.  The camp took place in the charming Royal Bourbon Hotel, built in the early 1800’s and smack dab in the middle of New Orleans’ French Quarter.

Banu Gibson introduces the faculty

The camp got off to a great start with a “meet and greet” Sunday evening in the lobby.  After a bit of milling around and meeting the faculty and other campers, the faculty pulled out there instruments began to perform.  After a few tunes, Otis Bazoon switched from clarinet to tenor sax to make room for Tim Laughlin who dropped by to join the group on clarinet. The performance was impressive and more than enough to get the campers in the mood for the week to come. 

The format of the camp was informal and enjoyable. Each morning, we would breakfast together and then enjoy a guest presentation about New Orleans jazz.  Next we would attend group lessons on our instruments.  After lunch, there would be ensemble rehearsals where the campers formed bands and were coached by the faculty.  The evenings were devoted to jam sessions sitting in at local jazz venues, including one memorable evening where we performed at Preservation Hall.

Faculty Band with Tim Laughlin perform at the "Meet & Greet"

Before this, I have attended the Jamie Aebersold Jazz Camp in Lexington, Kentucky, and the North Texas Jazz Camp in Denton, Texas.  Both camps were great experiences, lots of fun and staffed by some of the most talented and best known musicians in the jazz world.  But Dixieland jazz is what I enjoy playing most of all.  I saw the New Orleans Traditional Jazz Camp as an opportunity to focus on the style of music that I enjoy most and also as an opportunity to meet some of the better players in trad jazz.

How did the New Orleans Jazz Camp for Adults compare to the other camps?  First, there are no auditions.  Both the North Texas and the Aebersold camps make an effort to form ensembles that consist of players of approximately the same skill level.  An 80 year old may end up playing in the same ensemble as a 15 year old high school freshman.  I never found that to be an issue and in fact enjoy the opportunity to mix musically with younger musicians.  The ensembles work together for the entire camp with the same instructor and the concerts at the end of the week feature some truly outstanding musical performances by the camper ensembles. 

Jam Session in the Bourbon Oh! Club

At the New Orleans camp, the ensembles change for each session.  That means that each camper gets to meet and practice with a lot of other campers.  Each session also is with a different faculty member, so you are exposed to a good mix of musical ideas.

Second, the Aebersold and North Texas Jazz Camps both feature intensive jazz theory and ear training classes.  Campers are assigned to a theory classes based upon a short placement test at the beginning of the week.  Each camper can “promote” or “demote” to a different level if they feel that the class is too elementary or too challenging. The New Orleans camp did not feature any jazz theory classes.  Based upon some of the questions that came up during the various instrumental lessons, many of the campers would have enjoyed and benefited from at least a basic class in jazz theory and how it relates to performing in traditional jazz ensembles and in constructing interesting jazz solos. 

Third, the New Orleans camp is all about “Traditional” jazz. The other two camps are heavily directed toward “Mainstream” jazz.  The repertoire of tunes at North Texas and the Aebersold camps, frankly, leaves me somewhat indifferent.  I enjoy melodies where (as Tim Laughlin said of Pete Fountain) “every note has a smile”.  Not that I don’t appreciate listening to more modern music, I simply enjoy trad tunes more. The camp that I really would like to attend would combine the intensity and learning of the North Texas camp with the music, style and atmosphere of the New Orleans camp.  A week in the French Quarter is definitely a step up from a week on a college campus!

Would I recommend the New Orleans Jazz Camp for Adults?  You bet!  It is a great week.  You will meet and play with some outstanding musicians in a relaxing and fun “adult” atmosphere.  There is also plenty of room for musicians who have more love for the music than they do technique or skill.

The dates for the 2011 camp have been set.  It will be June 5 -10 (maybe a bit cooler temperatures than we had this August).  The website is http://www.neworleanstradjazzcamp.com.  Check it out and get your enrollment in early!