
At “Crack the Jazz Code” band camp, Music Works Northwest, Bellevue
My 8th-grade trumpet student from Mercer Island has played in six recitals—one with a piano accompanist—but needed to get some ensemble experience to prepare him for joining a band when he gets to high school. You see, there is no band program at St. Monica’s Catholic School, where he is now a student. So, his parents enrolled him in a one-week jazz band camp held at Music Works Northwest in Bellevue. The camp is for ages 11-15 (middle and high school) at the level of two years of school band or orchestra.
The “Crack the Jazz Code” camp culminated in a concert on Friday afternoon, 19 July. The camp director, Christian Pincock, trombonist, led the 15-member group in a program of six pieces:
- “Flip Top” by Ted Curson, trumpeter
- “Cantaloupe Island” by Herbie Hancock, pianist
- “Cute” by Count Basie, pianist
- “Comparsa” by Candido Camero, percussionist (bongos and conga drums)
- “Watermelon Man” by Herbie Hancock, pianist
- “C-Jam Blues” by Duke Ellington, pianist
At the concert, the brass section was comprised of 7 trumpeters and two trombonists.
Music Works Northwest offers two dozen summer camps. For more information, please see http://www.musicworksnw.org/ and http://www.christianpincock.net. For previous posts about my trumpet student, please see my blog posts of 10 May 2019, 21 May 2018, and 18 November 2017. This was his first experience playing jazz in an ensemble.
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