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Dave Martell's jazz combo band performs his composition, "Cool Raul." Photos J. Wake
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A fantastical frenzy of trumpet, tenor sax, flute, bass, drums and trombone solos filled the air during the Lafayette Summer Music Jazz Workshop's final concert at Stanley Middle School Aug. 7. Twenty-five combo bands, each with as few as six players to as many as 11, most middle- and high-school aged, others older, belted out a medley of jazz tunes such as "Blue Train" by John Coltrane and "Cool Raul" by Dave Martell that kept the place jumping from 3:30 to 10 p.m.
The concert was the culmination of the weeklong camp that has been going strong for the past 17 years. Some of the songs played at the concert were given to performers just two days before the event.
"I really liked the expertise of the instructors and their ability to excite the kids," said parent Dani Bennett, whose son Kyle participated in the program. "It was such a positive environment with the opportunity to immerse yourself in jazz."
The workshop was directed by Stanley Middle School music director Bob Athayde and jazz curriculum director Kyle Athayde, and was supported by the Generations in Jazz Foundation. Each day, the camp was broken into different sections - master's classes, improvisation and free choice workshops and jazz combos - and participants had direct access to highly experienced jazz musician faculty and experts throughout the week.
"The master's class gave me a chance to work with really experienced players who taught me how to get better at my instrument," said 12-year-old trumpet player Jon Wake. "I learned about mixolydian and Dorian, different forms of scales or chord progressions for improvisation in a song and key changes in a song."
First-time camper and drummer Kyle Bennett, 13, liked that there was a free period with the freedom to explore the history of jazz or learn how to do a duet.
Jam sessions were offered every morning, and at different venues throughout Lafayette during the week. The players in the jazz combos not only learned the music, but how to work together as a band. "We just got to know each other," said musician and faculty member Alan Ferber at the event. "I want another week."
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA