Okay readers, if I say that this past week was amazing, I think it'd probably be the understatement of the decade. But it really was! AMAZING! This is what Jam Camp is: Sponsored by The Music School, Jam Camp is a program that focuses on Jazz and Rock music. Professional musicians come for a week and teach the students how to jam. Held at the wonderful music facilities down at Snow College, the music is free to fly.
In other words, you pay to go play with musicians who have recorded and are professional. Throughout the week, they get to know you on a first name basis. Its really cool.
Every night the faculty put on a concert, and they were ALL amazing! I can't even begin to describe how it felt in that concert hall every night. The personal energy was mind blowing.
Who was the faculty anyways. Huge names like:
Wycliffe Gordon
John Beasley
Ron Blake
Brian Bromberg
Corey Christiansen
Chris Slade
And some not so big names, but awesome anyways:
Kelly Fox
John Rhodes
Chris Merritt
Mike Tobian
So Yeah, It was sick, playin' with these cats! (Sorry 'bout the Jazz Lingo, been talkin' it all week!)
So of course I'd take my camera. Here's a Plethora of photos that I took (not even close to all of 'em though. . . . only the best!!):
The first sign we saw at Snow College, indicating
that we needed to angle park.
The first friend we made at Jam Camp while waiting
in the registration line: Charlotte.
My bed in our apartment. Notice said PJ's and said hippo.
(Inside Joke. . . .)
This is an example of actually Jammin'. During sax master class
we were playing long tones. There's me in the background!
Jake Veeloo (spelling?)
Need I say more. . . .Yes?
Okay, he's one of the best "young" sax players in Utah.
You could say he's an Idol for me. . .
This is a rare photo of Ron Blake, Bari Sax player for the Saturday
Night Live Jazz Band, playing the piano. Crazy musicians!
John Beasley has a lot under his belt. Not only did he record the piano parts
for numerous movies including "Finding Nemo" and " A Bug's Life" but also does a lot
with the American Idol band. He's a pretty big name! A good man!
This is Tyson, James, Ron and I after one of the "Nightly Jam Sessions."
Another rare shot of a musician playing an instrument of his own, Wycliffe
Gordon is actually quite good at playing the drums.
Now this is an interesting character: Brian Bromberg. Brian is probably the best bass player I've ever heard. He's played with Horace Silver,
Herbie Hancock, Dizzy Gillespie, etc. Excellent!
A beautiful pose by me. NOT! :)
This is a long story. It involves a PB&J sandwich and Wycliffe Gordon. Ask
me to tell you sometime!
These musician's really don't like to play their own instruments.
This is Corey on a bass guitar.
My hair was hot that day.
Okay, this one's a bit hard to see, but I'll explain. The drum instructor was the
legendary Chris Slade. For those of you who don't know who he is, he's
the drummer for the band AC/DC. Need I say more?
Jonathan Lindberg. . . another great young sax player I look up to
This is my new found friend Jessica. She plays Alto too. We
were in the same "Big Band." Good Player!
This is McKay and I standing with Sir Gordon. McKay didn't go to Jam Camp,
and he missed out big time. (Gotta rub it in more McKay! haha!)
close to an amazing week!
If you've made it this far, thanks for reading! I"ll be thinking about this for a long time. Aspire Higher! Yay! for professional musicians!
2 responses:
Eh, wait till you've worked with Monte Belnap!!! You ain't seen NOTHIN' yet! :) But that's okay, it looks like it was fun. I like the picture of the hippo... ;) It's been weird, I went from 5-6 hours of playing every day to suddenly none at all, cuz I was at work and an internship all day.... it feels so weird!!!! ttyl....
That looks like it was so much fun! I don't even know who a lot of those people were, but when you said things like, "A bug's life" and "american Idol" and "ACDC", I figured it out. :) That looks like it was a really neat opportunity! "Lucky!" (said with Napoleon Dynamite voice. :D)
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