Camp Description

Five days of camp and a different kind of music each day! Explore Blues, Swing, Bebop, Afro-Cuban and Contemporary Jazz styles.
• All levels of players are welcome. Ages 11-18 .
• It is not necessary to have taken private lessons to participate in camp.
• All faculty members are professional musicians.
• Faculty Performances.
• We will be focusing on great playing, great music and fun in music.
• We will explore the common elements of music through different styles and players.
• We will use multimedia presentations as well as live performances to show you great playing.
• This will be in a fun, nurturing environment.

Dates: July 16 - 20, 2012
Tuition: Early Bird price by April 16, 2012 is $345.00
Payment: is due with registration. Camp availability will fill early. From April 16, 2012 - June 15, 2012 add $25, so long as openings are available. 
Application: Click here (word doc)
Location: The Lutheran Church of St. Andrew — Silver Spring, MD

Weekly Schedule

Day 1 – Blues
Day 2 – Afro-Cuban
Day 3 – Bebop
Day 4 – Swing
Day 5 - Contemporary

Daily Schedule

9:00 – Gather, warm up
9:30 - Play piece of the day together
9:45 - Technique and history
11:45 - Lunch: bring a sack lunch from home
12:30 - Faculty recital, listening/lecture
1:30 - Improvisation/theory on instrument
2:30 - Large group reading – pull together learning and use it
3:00 - Go home and practice!

All schedules/music studied are subject to change.

CANCELLATION POLICY: All cancellation requests must be received in writing by June 15, 2012. No refunds will be given on requests after this date. NO EXCEPTIONS. There is a $50 cancellation fee.

Faculty Biographies

Greg Twombley - Artist/Educator. Woodwind performing artist specializing in Saxophone, Flute and Clarinet

Pepe Gonzalez, acoustic and electric bass. In his late teens, Pepe formed one of the first integrated bands between African-Americans and Hispanics in the Washington, DC area; the band Zapata opened for many Jazz greats, including Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Weather Report and Ramsey Lewis, and received far-reaching acclaim. Pepe has performed with the Smithsonian Institute for Tito Puente, and has been featured with his own Latin Jazz band, Sonora Del Barrio at the Kennedy Center. Additionally, Pepe has performed and recorded with many Jazz greats, including Pepper Adams, Dave Valentin, Clark Terry, Slide Hampton, and many others. Pepe has performed for US Presidents George Bush, Bill Clinton and Geroge W. Bush, numerous heads of sate, and has toured the Jazz Festival circuits in the USA and throughout Europe. Pepe can be heard on more than 30 recordings, including “Looking Back”, and maintains a very busy teaching schedule at the Levine School of Music, and is a frequent guest clinician.

Chuck Redd is an accomplished performer on both drums and vibraphone. Chuck began performing and recording internationally when he joined the Charlie Byrd Trio in 1980 at the age of 21. That year, he also joined the Great Guitars (Barney Kessel, Charlie Byrd and Herb Ellis.) To his credit are thirteen extensive European tours and five tours of Japan, with the Barney Kessel Trio, Ken Peplowski, Terry Gibbs and Conte Candoli.

He served as Artist-In-Residence at The Smithsonian Jazz Café in Washington, DC from 2004-2008. Chuck was featured vibraphonist with the Mel Torme All-Star Jazz Quintet from 1991 until 1996. While appearing in New York with Torme, Ira Gitler of Jazz Times said: "Redd's vibes were equally notable for vigor and melodiousness. "Exquisite!" In 2007 Chuck was featured with the prestigious "Milt Jackson Tribute Band".

Other recent engagements include jazz cruises in the Mediterranean, stints with Bucky Pizzarelli and Ken Peplowski at Dizzy's Club (Jazz at Lincoln Center) and headlining with his trio at The River Room of Harlem. He has toured and performed with Dizzy Gillespie, Mel Torme, Tommy Flanagan, Dick Hyman, Ray Brown, Monty Alexander, Laurindo Almeida, Tal Farlow, Red Norvo, Scott Hamilton, Mickey Roker and Frank Vignola.

Redd is featured on over 70 recordings. Recent releases include his Arbors CD, "All This and Heaven Too", featuring Gene Bertoncini and George Mraz, and "The Swing Kings", an all-star session featuring Bucky and John Pizzarelli, Ray Kennedy and Ken Peplowski.

Performances by Chuck include a concert with the Dizzy Gillespie Quintet in Africa for the Namibian Independence Celebration, a recital at the White House with the Barney Kessel Trio, concerts at Carnegie Hall with Mel Torme's Quintet, and The Tonight Show. In 2008, he was featured in the finale concert at The Lionel Hampton International Jazz festival with The Lionel Hampton Big Band. In addition to leading his own groups, Chuck was a member of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra for 15 years.

He frequently performs in New York City and headlines nationally at festivals and clubs. Chuck is on the faculty at The University of Maryland School of Music and presents master classes, workshops and lectures around the country.

Chuck's newly released Noteworthy CD, "When Redd is Blue" is a collaboration with his brother Robert, and his Arbors CD "Happy All The Time," is a critically acclaimed tribute to his mentor, Barney Kessel and features Monty Alexander, Jeff Hamilton and Howard Alden.

Robert Redd, piano. Robert was a member of the Keter Betts trio for 13 years, until Betts’ death in 2005. The trio performed many concerts and festivals and could frequently be heard at venues such as the Kennedy Center and Blues Alley.

They performed regularly throughout the school year at Wolf Trap as part of Early Learning Through the Arts, a program which Betts helped start and develop, presenting live music to young audiences. Robert is a member of the Wolf Trap Jazz Trio which continues to present this program. From 1995-1998, Robert was pianist and musical director for singer/songwriter Kenny Rankin. While touring with Rankin, he performed with Michael Moore, Oscar Castro-Neves, Roy McCurdy and John B. Williams, among others. They appeared regularly at venues in New York City such as The Rainbow and Stars and The Bottom Line, and performed in the guest artist series with the U.S. Air Force Band at DAR-Constitution Hall, in Washington, D.C.

Robert worked often as a member of the Charlie Byrd Trio, and can be heard on Charlie Byrd’s last recording, “For Louis”. Other recent recordings include “Bouquet Chorale” (Summit Records) featuring Marty Nau and legendary saxophonist Phil Woods, and “When Redd is Blue”, co-led with his brother, Chuck.

Robert is also a QRS recording artist and has recorded two Pianomation CDs with fellow pianist Michael T. Jones for the New York-based company. Robert teaches and performs every year during Swing Week at the Augusta Festival at Davis & Elkins College in Elkins, West Virginia. He is also a featured artist every year at the W.C. Handy Music Festival in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.

As a free-lance musician, Robert has performed with Bud Shank, Houston Person, Warren Vache, Ethel Ennis, Melba Moore, Phil Woods, Mundell Lowe, Scott Hamilton, Ken Peplowski, James Moody, The Harry James Big Band, The Artie Shaw Big Band (w/Dick Johnson) and the Duke Ellington Orchestra, to name a few.

He performs frequently with the Smithsonian Masterworks Organization, and is often featured at Blues Alley, where he co-leads a group with his brother, Chuck. Recent performances included a private concert in the East Room at the White House for the President, First Lady, and their guests on Valentine’s Day, 2008.

Ken McNair, born in Brooklyn and raised in South Jersey, brings it together at every performance. As an exceptional drummer who takes great pride in his ability to enhance the musical style and raise the level of excitement no matter what the venue, Ken brings his professionalism and style to the stage with dynamic movements and decisive actions.

His passion for the drums came at the early age of three when he began playing at area churches with no formal training. He continued his musical pursuits through college earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Music from the University of Pittsburgh under the tutelage of Dr. Nathan Davis and Norman G. Humphries.

In an effort to share his knowledge, Ken has participated in a number of clinics:  The Learning with the Masters Program at La Roche College, Clinics at Georgetown University, The Guitar Center and Westfield High School.

Ken transformed his natural affinity for the drums by incorporating a host of musical styles and genres from Gospel to Jazz to Hip Hop. With this, he has had the honor of playing with a plethora of artists. 

Some notables include Grover Washington Jr., Kenny Blake, Kirk Whalum, Ron Affif, Larry Coryell, Monty Alexander, Marilyn McCoo, Jennifer Holliday, Aaron Neville, Yoran Gershovsky, Chico Freeman, James Moody, Johnny Griffin, Hank Crawford, Jimmy Ponders, David Budway, Sandi Patty, Ted Dunbar, Dwayne Dolphin, Dino Fiumara Jr., Rodney McCoy, Rodney McBride, Mississippi Mass Choir, Wilmington Chester Mass Choir, Barbara Ward Farmer and the Wagner Alumni Choir, Della Reese and many more. He has also opened up for Average White Band and Tower of Power during their “Souled Out” Tour.