10th Annual Texas Jazz & Blues Camp
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About this event
Texas Jazz & Blues Camp welcomes students from 11 to adult, with most in their mid-teens. Previous jazz experience is preferred but not required, as long as the student has the equivalent of 2 years’ experience on their instrument, and has an interest in learning to improvise.
Don Braden, world-class jazz educator and saxophonist, is our camp Music Director and has toured extensively with Wynton Marsalis, Freddie Hubbard, Tony Williams, Betty Carter, & Roy Haynes. Don is a Harvard alumnus and is the Director of the Harvard University Jazz Combo Initiative. For Don’s full bio, see https://www.newschoolofmusic.net/faculty/don-braden/
BILL EVANS, a legendary multi-genre saxophonist, is our featured artist/clinician at TJBC this year. Bill was a member of the Miles Davis group in the 1980s, and has also toured and recorded with Miles Davis, John McLaughlin, Herbie Hancock, Randy Brecker, Willie Nelson, Mick Jagger, The Allman Brothers Band, Mike Stern, Robben Ford, & Bela Fleck, and Medeski, Martin & Wood. Bill has recorded over 27 solo albums and received two Grammy Awards nominations, and his latest recording, “ Who I am “ received over 100,000 streams in just over a few weeks.
NSM, VP of Performance & Education Outreach, Joe Morales, is an acclaimed saxophonist, vocalist, jazz educator, recording artist, Grammy winner, and the founder of the Austin Jazz Club, & co-founder of the New School Jazz Club. Joe is an in-demand session artist, arranger, and composer and has recorded on many albums with artists such, as Linda Ronstadt, John Hyatt, Flaco Jimenez, Texas Tornadoes, Freddie Fender, Duck Soup, The Brew and hundreds more.
LOCATION: St. Stephen’s Episcopal School
6500 St Stephens Dr, Austin, TX 78746
DATES and TIMES: June 15 – 20
Day Camp:
$995 • June 16-20 • 9am–4pm • 11–Adult
Including daily lunches on campus.
On-Campus Residential Camp:
(5pm dorm check-in on Sunday, June 15th)
$1495 • June 15-20 • 13–18
including daily meals on campus.
Off-Campus Residential Camp:
$995 day camp • June 16-20 • 18 & up
Plus related off campus hotel & meals costs.
Includes daily TJBC lunches on campus, and
evening TJBC masterclasses and concerts.
For info on mid-priced hotels nearby, click here.
AGE: 11 – adult
Partial and full scholarships are available, and we want to help interested students with two years of instrument experience to attend.
Please download the Scholarship Application from here and email it to enroll@newschoolofmusic.net.
OUR PHILOSOPHY
STUDENTS
Students are ages 11 to adult, with most in their mid-teens. Previous jazz experience is preferred but not required, as long as the student has the equivalent of 2 years’ experience on their instrument, and has an interest in learning to improvise.
Groups are welcome to attend and be coached together. Instrumentalists and vocalists are welcome.
End-of-Week Concert & Daily Jams
DIRECTORS
• Music Director, Don Braden
• Improvisation Director, Andre Hayward
• Ensemble Director, Joe Morales
• Executive Director, Richard Spencer
Testimonial from NPR reporter, John Burnett
I attended 2023 Texas Jazz & Blues Camp for the first time and I didn’t know what to expect. I was the oldest, tallest student with the smallest instrument!. The experience and musicianship of the instructors was astonishing: we were getting tips on playing from Andre Hayward–a Jazz at Lincoln Center alum–and Don Braden, who blew with Herbie Hancock and Freddie Hubbard. The musical wisdom they passed on to us about constructing solos, honoring the melody, listening to each other, tips on practicing, and sage advice on how to approach playing jazz music, all that is priceless. I can say my five days at Texas Jazz Camp was inspirational…I’ll be sipping from that spring for a long time.
John Burnett, chromatic and diatonic harmonicas, retired NPR national correspondent
REFUND POLICY
Camp tuition is fully refundable for emergency withdrawals until May 1, 2025. After May 1, only 25% of the tuition is refundable for emergency withdrawals.
COVID-19 Safety Policy
St. Stephen’s and NSM, Austin are in compliance with CDC’s recommended guidelines for pandemic precautions, and will remain so throughout our 2025 summer camp programs.