Just flying back from the Jamey Aebersold Summer jazz workshop.

Here is all I can say:

Wow!

OK I can say some other stuff too:

Quite an experience.

This is a jazz workshop held and the campus of university of Kentucky Louisville.

A week of music and education with 400 other like minded people. Too much fun.

Also very humbling. There are always people who play better than you. Lots of them. And they play much better. The lessons too show you how much you still are missing and how much you need to learn, practice and listen.

Staff Concert with Jim Snidero, Antonio Hart and gang on one of the evenings

Then there are the concerts. Every evening there are three sets of really world class musicians performing (about 3 hours a night). These guys are superb, I am talking about James Moody, Eric Alexander, David Stryker, Andy Lavern and the like. For them it is also I imagine a blast. Usually in a jazz club you have about 12% of the people plugged into the music while the rest eat, talk and generally check out the people at the next table. Here you have an audience of about 500 people who are there to listen to jazz, and pick up on everything, Going nuts when there is a particularly nice passage or solo.

It is also a throwback to college days living in a dorm with a roommate and eating in a collective dining hall (with of course live jazz accompanying the meals).

The days are wall to wall activity with theory and ear training starting the day, then combo practice, a master class for your instrument, another combo practice and evening concerts.

Jamey Aebersold giving an ear training session

It is very unique in that all these people share a common interest and drop all barriers so people just walk up and talk to you or exchange opinions about what they just heard.

The faculty is really very supportive, with a lot of good pointers and suggestions of exercises, licks or ideas. I really don’t think I heard a put down or mean remark the whole week.

Jamey Aebersold himself is a character. he is about 68 years old, not a gram of fat on him and a bundle of energy.

He is the most amusing and unpretentious teacher. Great fun to take theory with him, he plays the sax, piano and sings during lessons, also remembers things and calls on his cell phone or just goes off on a tangent (“has anyone seen the new observation deck on the grand canyon? is it scary?”).

And… he is involved in every single thing that happens there.

An amazing discovery for me. Ralph Bowen. Flawless technique, unbelievable musicality

Sometimes you get the feeling he cloned himself. You see him in theory class then you look up he is taking pictures, adjusting the volume in the hall, setting up the video camera, making announcements. he really does not stand still very long.

Many of the people I met there were repeat campers (most of them actually) returning for the 2nd 4rth or 10th time! The camp has been going on for 40 years. Some have been there for 25 years…

On the other hand there are the 17 year olds, about half. extremely motivated and doing things with ease that us geezers just try to figure out. It’s just not fair. On the other hand we have our wisdom…

There really is no time for any extracurricular activities. It is completely immersive and a total break from the routine.

Traditionally at the last day Jamey takes out his banjo. He should stick to his day job...

There were some things that could have been done better during this week, not many though. Here are a few that I would improve:

• The rush to the final concert is overwhelming. There are many ensembles and not enough time. So it is an assembly line type of approach. As a result you don’t get to see many of the others and the attention given to setup and sound check are nil. Our bass player was not heard at all and the total balance was often horrible.
• For those of us arriving a day earlier (since that was really the only flight option) there was nothing set up for that evening and no information about nightlife or food options. The next morning we walked several miles to a MacDonalds for breakfast since that was the only option around. The campus is also quite dead during this summer period so all normal campus places are closed.
• Lastly. Jamey has this red book he put together when he was younger about 200 years ago. It is faded, has smudged type and the font is tiny. It also includes many mistakes and typos that by now have been reprinted thousands of times. It does however include amazingly useful information (keys and chords and charts and stuff). It is time to redo the famous red book!

Lots of practice ahead. I realize how far there is to go.

Playing with the ensemble on the last day. That's me on the flute