Jazz Camp West &raquo; Music Camp Blog

Oct 13 2011

Living Jazz, formerly RCI, celebrates!

Posted in Events, Updates

Living Jazz, formerly Rhythmic Concepts, Inc., has a new name and wants to celebrate

an amazing year of growth and change with you!

Living Jazz Celebration of Milestones, formally Rhythmic Concepts

Living Jazz invites you to a Special Celebration

with the Wayne Wallace Latin Jazz Quartet

Saturday, October 22 • 7 pm

Piedmont Piano Co., 1728 San Pablo Ave., Oakland • www.piedmontpiano.com

This will be an evening of celebration, dancing, enjoying great friends, eating yummy food
and toasting to the future of Living Jazz

Our Entire Living Jazz Community is invited • All Ages are Welcome!

$45 per person (includes dance lesson, food and wine)

This Living Jazz fundraising event will help us fulfill our mission of building community, cultivating creativity, and enriching lives through the love of jazz.

TIX: Brown Paper Tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/ 800-838-3006
For more info: 510-287-8880

Save-the-date NEXT JAZZ CAMP WEST: June 23 – June 30 2012

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Sep 14 2011

Tina Smelser – Student Spotlight

Posted in Students

The Pause
by Tina Smelser

It seems that lots of folks I know
are busy rushing to and fro
This being in a constant hurry
can lead to anxiousness and worry
Never slow and always quick
might even make a person sick
The stresses that this pace is causing
could be decreased by merely…pausing

(These thoughts may not apply to you
you’ll sense if they are ringing true
If you’ve no trouble saying “halt”
you’ll take them with a grain of salt)

In these next lines I’d like to make
a case for stopping for a break
It doesn’t have to be that long
you could just stop to sing a song
One slow breath in, one slow breath out
might help to turn your mood about
(You’re getting skeptical, I fear
stop and take a deep breath here)

We all get angry, that’s a fact
stop. Count to ten before you act
To sense your life and the beauty in it
you’ll need to pause at least a minute
A longer pause has greater power
what if you stopped for one full hour?
Our ancestors were wise, I’d say
they paused upon the Sabbath day

Nature’s wonder can be seen
while pausing from your day’s routine
Like buds in spring and leaves in fall
while pausing from your cell phone call
And chirping birds amidst the trees
while pausing from your DVDs
Or ocean tides that flow and ebb
while pausing from the world wide web

If interactions cause frustration
take some time for contemplation
If your life’s a complex mess
and every choice you second guess
a time out for a short retreat
may make things seem more clear and sweet
You might attempt a break quite radical
your pause could be a year’s sabbatical

You know, it actually is quite healing
to stop and feel what you are feeling
To live within a deeper layer
try using pausing time for prayer
A short break from an urgent goal
might reconnect you to your soul
Can you still sense the inspiration
you tasted on your last vacation?

Ahhh, to stop and smell the rose
and bliss, when tired, to stop and doze
There is so much that you can glean
from all the space that’s in between
When margins in your life are wide
you take its challenges in stride
When margins in your life are tight
each challenge makes you want to fight

I hereby grant you full permission
to schedule in an intermission!

Save-the-date NEXT JAZZ CAMP WEST: June 23 – June 30 2012

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Aug 22 2011

Kyle Blase – Student Spotlight

Posted in Students

Inside Out – A personal Profile

My personal story by Kyle Blase

I have always felt my journey as a musician started at Jazz Camp West. Since 2002, where I received a scholarship to attend, I haven’t missed a single one. When I first arrived I thought I knew what music was, that I owned the music and was in control of it. I was quickly broken down with positive and honest critiques and learned, with some hard lessons, that it was about the sound first and not always about me. Then teachers like Faye Carol and Kellye Gray picked me up out of the dis pare of my first Jazz Camp Wednesday and told me I could sing. I realized that this was the first time anyone had ever said this to me. I felt the love and I was hooked.

Jazz Camp is so intense and hands on that a week at camp is like a year of practice. If you allow yourself to grow in that week the growth is often astronomical. The connections with the jazz community I have made are priceless and I treasure them so much. Almost all my friendships in life have been forged at Jazz Camp and I always find myself counting the months and days until I can go back. For me Jazz Camp is real life and the rest of it all is waiting in a metaphorical train station just to get back.

My life has only improved since first going to Camp. I have become a better singer, flutist, guitar player and teacher because of my timethere. I have also picked some new things up along the way, Beat Boxing, Salsa Dancing, Hand Percussion, Vocal Percussion, Body Percussion, Looping, Steel Pans, Samba Rhythms, how to count in a band, having good stage presence, and much much more with the countless classes I have taken over the years.

Currently I teach to thousands of little kids in dozens of schools around the Bay every week with a business I own with Denise Blase, I teach beginning and intermediate guitar and voice privately, I am Faculty and Production Manager at Jam Camp West, I am Production Manger at Jazz Camp West, I
am co-producer and founder of Jazz Search West, from time to time I produce and book shows and I have a healthy gigging life. I don’t kid myself to think I have accomplished this all on my own. I know that Jazz Camp and Living Jazz has had a profound impact on me and I wouldn’t be the person I am today with it…

Come say hi to me this Monday August 22nd at Yoshis where I am producing the “Faye, Gray and Washington” show…

In love, Kyle

Save-the-date NEXT JAZZ CAMP WEST: June 23 – June 30 2012

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