Below you’ll find a selection of special workshops on the Tuesday (June 10) before Django Camp proper gets under way. You have carved out a chunk of precious time for Django in June. These Tuesday offerings are one more way to get the most of it.
Before reading on, please note a few things:
Immediately below you have a quick overview of this year’s offerings. Click on any title to jump to a more detailed description or simply scroll on down the page. As you scan the titles, please note the instruments and ability-level for which the workshop is intended. Class size is limited and these workshops do fill up (some, very quickly) so we encourage you to register early. Really.
All instruments / All levels / Unlimited number of participants / $100
Violin / All Levels / Limited to 12 participants / $120
Voice / All Levels / Limited to 15 participants / $120
Bass & Guitar / All Levels / Limited to 24 participants (combined) / $120
Mandolin / All Levels / Limited to 12 participants / $120
Guitar / All Levels / Limited to 15 participants / $125
Multiple Instructors
All Instruments / All Levels / $100
The feedback we receive every year tells us that nothing will make or break your experience of Django Camp more than this one thing: having a few tunes you can jam on, and finding “your people” to hang with. Django in June is entirely oriented toward participatory music-making with real live people. Your people are the ones you recognize and know by name, who play more or less at your level, and with whom you share some common repertoire. They are the ones you connect with between classes and in the evening under the stars; they are the ones you may well stay in touch with after DiJ is over, and the ones you’ll look forward to seeing the following year.
We offer Meet, Greet and Play All Day to make sure this piece is in place from the get-go. The day-long workshop will consist of three 90-minute facilitated jam sessions during which you’ll play through tunes we will have made available on the “Get Ready Musically” pages of this website. We’ll organize the groups into 3 levels of ability to insure that everyone moves at an appropriate pace and meets other compatible musicians. You determine your own level, and you are welcome to change levels at any point if you’d like. Here’s how the levels break down:
Meet Greet and Play All Day is designed for mixed instrumentation, so it will provide a great way to not only widen your circle of friends attending Django in June but lend that circle some instrumental variety as well. By the time orientation comes round Tuesday evening you’ll have refreshed your memory on some great jam tunes, warmed up your fingers and met (or re-connected with) your peeps. A smart start to Django Camp, indeed.
Gabriel Terracciano
Violin / All Levels / $120
I (Andrew) have been in touch with Gabe for years, waiting for the stars to align so he could join us. This year, they did. If registration allows us to bring on another violin instructor this year, he’ll stick around beyond Tuesday. Regardless, here’s a special topic Gabe is suggesting to compliment whatever is on your plate for the rest of the week. We know that both Tcha and Evan Price have worked extensively with the jazz stylings and repertoire of Stuff Smith, so this workshop would prepare you for ongoing dialogue with them as well.
Hezekiah Leroy Gordon Smith (August 14, 1909 – September 25, 1967), better known as “Stuff” Smith, was one of jazz music’s preeminent violinists of the swing era. If you don’t know Stuff, you just don’t know your stuff. In this Tuesday Special Offering, Gabe Terracciano makes his Django in June debut to fill you in. This rough outline of the day should be enough to whet your whistle and rosin up your bow:
Dr. Katie Lynne
Voice / All Levels / $120
Last year at Django in June, Katie Lynne (best known to many of us as the voice of Djangophonique) led an afternoon Special Topic vocal workshop that got rave reviews. So how’d you like to spend the day with her to explore and enjoy your original wind instrument? Here’s her invitation to everyone with a voice …
Are you ready to bring your musicianship to the next level through the distinct ear training that working with your voice provides? Are you interested in not only being a musician, but also developing your chops as a performer? Are you curious about discovering the courage to hear what your authentic voice sounds like? Good. Let’s hang out. 🙂
Part One of this daylong workshop will focus on deep listening and connecting to the authentic self, other musicians, and the audience. We’ll learn and practice vocal warmups and discover how the voice itself operates in concert with the rest of the body. We’ll discover how performers practice losing their inhibitions and honing their focus to get ready to be fully present on stage when the spotlight hits, and we’ll get serious about the importance of play.
Part Two will dig into the history of vocal jazz and other relevant vocal music during Django Reinhardt’s life, and the catalogue of music featuring the vocalists that Django worked with and a bit about their bios. We will also explore vocal techniques such as vibrato, riffing, improvisation, and harmonization, specifically drawing upon the stylings utilized in the era, and expanding into relevance for today’s audiences.
Part Three will expand from the playful embodiment we’ll discover in Part One, and the vocal techniques informed by the legends of history we integrate in Part Two, and take it to the stage. This part of the workshop is all about performance, including managing anxiety, costuming, mic technique, what to do with your hands, stage banter, finding your unique style, and interpreting the songs we know and love in a way that is grounded in musicality and your own authenticity.
Jon Burr and Jack Soref
Bass and Guitar / All Levels / $120
Some time ago, Jack Soref alerted me (Andrew) to the fact that bassist Jon Burr was living in the Boston area. Among his many accomplishments, Jon worked extensively with Stephane Grappelli for over a decade, from 1986 through 1997. When I approached him about joining us for a Special Offering at Django in June, he said three things:
What you see below is the fruit of that initial interaction — a day-long workshop for bassists and guitarists led by special guest Jon Burr, ably assisted by our own Jack Soref. Here’s what they have in mind:
Explore how various Jazz and Jazz Manouche rhythm sections make a groove that both sounds and feels great. From the first Quintette du Hot Club de France recordings through to contemporary bands, we will study some of the different ways rhythm guitarists and bassists can work together to get an awesome groove.
Session 1: Make the Groove Together – In this class we will explore how the bass and rhythm guitar interact to make a cohesive sound. We will focus on note duration, accents, and getting a nice groove together.
Session 2: Tunes Through Time – In this class we will follow a couple tunes that Django and Steph recorded again and again throughout their careers, and listen to how the rhythm sections behind them evolved over time. We will break down the different approaches, and help you recognize when and how to apply them.
Session 3: Applying our Discoveries – In all the classes we are going to play, but in this class, we are going to focus on taking the information from our previous classes, and putting it in your hands. Lets figure out how all of this really relates to the situations you play in, and your own personal goals as a player.
Jason Anick
Mandolin / All Levels / Limited to 12 participants / $120
Unlike most jazz mandolinists, Jason Anick is also a violinist who has long specialized in the Gypsy jazz tradition. He knows the repertoire and the distinctive role of violin in jazz manouche. The reality is that there is no such well-established role for mandolin in this musical tradition. Django in June, by offering a mandolin track, is doing its bit to encourage mandolinists to claim their space and develop that role. There’s no one in North America better suited to helping that project along than Jason Anick. Here’s his proposal for a day of GJ mando:
Session 1: Swing Mandolin Rhythm
Tips on how to master “la Pompe” rhythm on mandolin.
Session 2: Grooves and Chord Voicings
Breakdown of all the crucial chord voicings and Grooves (outside of swing) used throughout jazz manouche standards like “Bossa Dorado”, “Troublant Bolero”, and “Indifference”
Session 3: Mastering Enclosure Licks and Arpeggios
Breakdown of how to practice and utilize enclosure licks and arpeggios (minor 6 and diminished for ex.) in your solos.
Matt Munisteri
Guitar / All Levels / Limited to 15 participants / $125
“A Day with Matt Munisteri” is the generic title we’re using while we wait on a more detailed workshop description from Matt. Last time we did this, the workshop filled up before we got one. Fair warning.
Our Promise To You: if you register for this workshop before we can provide a detailed description and, having seen said description, you decide to opt out, you can either get a full refund or apply the money to another workshop. Smart money says: it’s not going to happen.