Well the first ever MCJS Remote Camp went great! We had eight terrific teenage students who engaged in call kinds of listening, theory, and ear training with me while we looked through a list of great material.
I still learn more about this music every time I study it. So much of the music that I love is based on the simplest of ideas – like the relationship of triads a fourth apart. The subtle restructuring of the those two triads can give so much depth to a chord voicing. Take for instance, the opening two chords of Freddie Freeloader versus the opening two chords of The Sticks. On Freddie, you could call the triads Gm and Fm, OR you could say Bb6 and Fm, like a 4 chord to 1 chord. In The Sticks, we have a continuing motion between Ddim and Eb all over Bb, which creates the “churchy” 1 chord to 4 chord motion. Note the exact same voicing is carried onto the actual dominant 4 chord in measure nine.
Freddie-Freeloader-PianoSticks-Keyboard
Small insights, but interesting to me to think about how so much music is the same at its core. With all the quarantined time on our hands, I’ve been doing more tune and solo studies than I have since graduate school finished in 2008! With all this fun material to experience, I’ve decided to create two more MCJS Remote Camps for the 2020 Summer. I hope that you’ll consider joining me!
Famous Groove Tunes & Solos of the 1960s
June 29 – July 3, 2020
analyze the song structure and improvised solos of some of jazz’s most famous groove tunes.
- Watermelon Man from Takin’ Off by Herbie Hancock
– Freddie Hubbard, Dexter Gordon - Alligator Bogaloo from Alligator Bogaloo by Lou Donaldson
– Lou Donaldson, George Benson - Cornbread from Cornbread by Lee Morgan
– Lee Morgan, Hank Mobley - The Sticks from Mercy Mercy Mercy by Cannonball Adderley
– Nat Adderley, Cannonball Adderley - Freedom Jazz Dance from The In Sound by Eddie Harris
– Eddie Harris
Grammy Award Winning Song Analysis
July 27 – July 31, 2020
we’ll take a deep dive into the mechanics of songs featured on records that won the Best Instrumental Jazz Album Grammy Award. To provide extra perspective, we’ll focus on one tune from each decade.
- 1965: Getz/Gilberto by Stan Getz
- 1976: No Mystery by Chick Corea & Return to Forever
- 1987: J Mood by Wynton Marsalis
- 1997: Tales From the Hudson by Michael Brecker
- 2004: Alegria by Wayne Shorter
How to Register
1. Fill out the online application (approx 3 minutes)
2. Pay $100 tuition via Square
Groove Tunes
   Grammy Winners
3. Put the class on your calendar
  Groove Tunes June 29- July 3
  Grammy Winners July 27 – 31
4. Start listening to your class playlist
   Groove Tunes
  Grammy Winners