Columbia Jazz Festival

Last weekend Clockwork got to participate in the wonderful Columbia Jazz Festival. We spent the days listening to Vocal Jazz groups from Jr Highs, High Schools & JCs. Some of the groups were downright amazing. Rod Harris puts on a great weekend for all the groups attending. At the end of each day there is a big concert with all the participants and Rod's big bad band.




One of the real pleasures of the weekend is getting to work with the Masters that Rod assembles; Don Shelton, Barbara Morrison & Phil Mattson. They played together a few times and it was simply magic!

The big drama on the 1st day was the weather. It snowed on Friday morning so there was a beautiful layer of snow on everything. I thought it was wonderful until I saw some of the folks from San Bernadino walking around in their fancy dress. Later Rod mentioned that the campus was totally closed due to liability concerns. He managed to convince the PTB to let us stay, but then the power went out. We were forced to continue in the Library sans sound system. We were OK doing a 1hr clinic off mic. It gave us a chance to talk about the differences. But then when it was time for the groups to resume we were in a bit of a bind. Almost all of them work with a rhythm section, which is something most libraries lack. Funny that. Eventually 2 of the groups agreed to take one for the team and perform acoustically in the tight rehearsal spaces. It ended up being fun, with the singers right on top of the audience. Both groups did a great job!

Clinics are kind of a new thing for me. Last year was my first time and I haven't done it since. After each group finishes their set one of us takes 'em to a room to work for a while. I'm not ashamed to mention here how nervous I am about that. It's a little scary to be in a room with all those talented kids expecting you to tell them something useful, especially when I can't play piano or actually direct. There were actually a few times when I threw my hands up and told my fellow Clockworkers "I have nothing to tell this people." Fortunately there are 5 of us, so there was always one who could work with the group in question (even if it was just to tell them "you rule, this is an awesome time for you, enjoy it!"). But back to the clinics. A couple of things happened. 1st, I found I did have something to contribute after all. Once I got past my jitters and started to talk to the kids it would just come flowing out. The most rewarding thing was watching a section of music improve as we worked it. I think there are some techniques I've come to take for granted because we use them all the time. Of course, when the big concert came we had to remember to do all those things. In that sense we actually spent some time this weekend working on ourselves as well. Win win!

I took a lot of pictures. I was trying to get at least one shot of each group, but I regret I didn't get everyone (particularly when I was working on another group!). There are so many pics this time I decided to split it up:
Day 1 Pics
Day 2 Pics
The color depth is reduced to save space. If you want full figured versions then leave me a comment below and I'll email them to you. They're ~3-5Mb a piece.

OK that's enough for now. I'm excited because we got invited back next time. This is quickly turning into one of the highlights of every year for me.

-Eric