Channel Cities Jazz Club live music

January

CCJC JAZZ SCHOLARSHIP FUND
CHANNEL CITIES JAZZ CLUB JAZZ CAMP STUDENTS

It’s again time for us to be looking for a student musician who is interested in playing jazz, 12 thru 18 years of age and is preferably a member, although not a requirement, of their school jazz band, who would like to become a candidate for our jazz club to sponsor to the Sacramento Summer Youth Trad Jazz Camp this summer. So, if you know of such a student, please let Jim Holbrook at (805) 485-1688 know or refer them to him. Following is a list of the 29 students that our club has sponsored to the camp beginning in 2004:

2004—Fabian Mauricio, Santa Paula High
2005—Letitio Cabrero and Elisha Kennedy Santa Paula High
2006—Kristin Mauricio, Santa Paul High; Curtis Blanck, Royal High, Simi Valley; and Aaron
Murray of Cabrillo Middle School, Ventura
2007—Daniel Yu, Rio Mesa High, Oxnard; Logan Givan, Santa Paula High; Amanda Lassich,
Santa Paula High; Wesley Bakewell, Cabrillo Middle School, Ventura; Josef Sartee, Cabrillo
Middle School, Ventura; Cisco Marquez, Santa Paula High and Chris Cronin, Santa Paul High
2008—Emily Rocksvold, and Angel Perez, Santa Paula High; Katie Gregory and Tony Aiello,
Rio Mesa High, Oxnard
2009—Rachel Flowers, Hneneme High, Oxnard
2010—Andrea Toledo, Santa Paula High; James Edmonson, Hneneme High, Oxnard; and Dru
Blossom, Ventura High
201l—Christian Bennett, Nic Ming, Nate Rowley and Asa Tabor, Ventura High
20l2—Eleanor Bakewell, El Camino High, Ventura
2013—Brittney Ellinger, El Camino High, Ventura
2014—Consuelo Jimenez, Rio Mesa High, Oxnard
2015-—Breanna Edwards, Monte Vista Middle School, Camarillo

Thanks to all of you who donated to the Rod Beveridge Memorial Fund. CCJC received $46.00 towards the $775 needed for each student to attend summer jazz camp. There is always a “BIG JAR” located on the edge of Connie’s table. So, while you are paying upon entry, place a little extra in the jar. A little from each of us goes a long way.

We received $46.00 towards the Rod Beveridge Memorial Scholarship Fund in December. That included $25.00 from Delores Strickland and $21.00 from other donors. That makes the total contributions $1208.00 for the Jazz Camp fund this year.

Sarah Byrd
Hello, my name is Sarah. I am fifteen years old, and am currently a sophomore at Rio Mesa High School in Oxnard. I have been playing the trombone for six years now, and have been in the school’s jazz band for two years. I joined at the time because jazz and blues were two of my favorite musical genres, and I wanted to be a part of creating them. Our jazz band the last few years has been small (two tenor saxes, two altos, one each of a pianist, trombone, trumpet, guitarist, bass player, and a drummer, and maybe the occasional bari sax as well), so we’ve been playing a lot of three, four, and six horn charts. Part of why I want to go to camp is to experience other forms of jazz, as well as to maybe try out some big band pieces. Currently though, my biggest reason for wanting to improve my improvisational skills, whether it be by ?nding what my mind thinks on the horn faster or by learning to rethink how I solo altogether. Any chance given to attend would be a great honor, and I would ?nd it as highly useful to improve my skills as a jazz musician.”

August

SACRAMENTO SUMMER YOUTH TRAD JAZZ CAMP

The camp scheduled for this year is the 1st week of August, so our 2016 student Sarah Byrd is there now as this is being written; having a great time while learning to be a much" better jazz musician than she was before going to camp. Sarah is a petite 15-year-old Trombone playing student in the Rio Mesa High School Jazz Band, who is barely bigger than her instrument, which l suspect wasn't the case when she started playing it 6 years ago. The camp concentrates on Traditional Jazz, probably because it’s basic to all other Jazz that has succeeded it. They focus on improvisation, music theory and taking it into practice, and have some of the best Jazz Musicians in the whole country volunteer as instructors. If you would like to know more about this very excellent program, check out their website, Sacjazzcamp.org and go to the Youth Section. For every student we sponsor to camp, our Jazz Club pays the weeks tuition which is currently $650.00 per student plus an additional $125.00 to the family to help with travel expenses to and from Sacramento. All donations to our Jazz Camp program are gratefully accepted.
While she is at camp, Sarah will be having some photos taken of her and the band to which she has been assigned, to publish in our newsletter along with a letter about her experiences there. After Sarah returns from camp, we are hoping she will join one or more of our jam sessions and entertain us with what she has learned while there.
She was 1 of 3 candidates for Jazz Camp this year, the other two are Nick Franks and Adrian Martin, both Sax players. They were not accepted to camp because the camp had way more
than usual applications for saxophone as well as some of the other instruments, then they had room for. So, if Nick and Adrian are still able to go next year, we will get their applications
sent earlier.

March

KEEPING JAZZ ALIVE
(Focus on Youth)

In CCJC’s ongoing effort to reach out to youths and to ’keep jazz alive’ our events will include, when available, high school jazz bands at our Sunday events. Jammers are from l-2 p.m., then high school jazz bands take the stage from 2:10-3:00 p.m. For March 2016 we have scheduled
Rio Mesa High Jazz Combo in El Rio with music director Bruce Edmiston. In April it Will be Buena Hi Jazz Band from Ventura, under the direction of Andre Spence. Hope you all can come out to hear these bands and help us help them "Keep Jazz Alive".
~Jim Holbrook

April

CCJC JAZZ SCHOLARSHIP FUND

Thanks to all of you for donations to the Rod Beveridge Scholarship Jazz Fund’ during our March 2016 event. We received another $200 in memory of Delores Strickland, making our total for 2016 $1219. To date, three students (all from the Rio Mesa High Combo Band) have applied. Each applicant has submitted an essay outlining their plans, goals and desires. See below:

Adrian Martin
”Music became a big part of my life when I entered high school. Music relieves stress from the assignment of large amounts of homework, and I don’t believe I would be able to cope with my intense classes without it. Music gives me the motivation to try my hardest in anything and everything I do. I have three years’ experience on my instrument, but only one year experience with jazz. The main reason I want to attend the SAC Jazz Camp is to experience the different styles of other musicians and to learn ?om them. I am also very interested in the music theory classes to better my understanding of improvising.”

Nicholas Franks
My name is Nicholas Franks, am 15 years old, and I have been playing the alto saxophone for ?ve years and the baritone saxophone for two. I have been playingjazz for only a year-and-a-half, but I am hoping to expand my ability to this genre of music so I can play jazz for the rest of my career. For two years in a row, I have been part of the local Saxophone Christmas at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, and this year I began taking the jazz band class at Rio Mesa High School with Mr. Edmiston as a baritone sax player and private lessons on my alto to improve my knowledge on music and to become the best player I can be. While I don’t have much experience with jazz, I feel that this class will help me kick start my career of playing jazz with regards to improvisation and technique. I tend to pick up new concepts on my horn relatively quickly, and I feel that my experience as a classical saxophone player will help me transition into the realm of jazz music. Jazz is one of my favorite genres of music, I can listen to it for hours and not get tired of it. My passion for jazz (and ensemble music in general) and love for making and playing music constantly push me to become a better player and to entertain others, and this jazz camp will help me achieve this goal. Thank you!

May

CCJC JAZZ SCHOLARSHIP FUND GOOD NEWS, GOOD NEWS, GOOD NEWS...

A selection has been made from the three candidates who applied for 20l6 Jazz Camp Sarah Byrd.
We thank all three candidates, but the camp only had room for one this year. Again, thanks to all of you who helped to make this happen.

We received $108 at our April Event, making our total for 2016 $1327.00 toward The Rod Beveridge Scholarship Fund.

November

SACRAMENTO SUMMER YOUTH TRAD JAZZ CAMP

The following letter was received from Sarah Byrd, the student we sponsored this summer at the Jazz Camp.

To the Channel Cities Jazz Club:
Jazz Camp was a great adventure. From the moment I arrived, there was a sense of family and friendship among everyone.
The camp kept us busy, but it made being busy fun. Mornings we had theory class before band practice, after which came sectionals and lessons with our instructor, Greg. He showed us how to improve our skills by explaining things, such as how to play louder and clearer, as well as explaining the theory and knowledge behind it all. After lunch we dove right back into band practice, which was fun, because everyone got along so well. Free time each day always consisted of a game, an activity, or both, and every band competed for a last day pizza prize.
Each night the bands would play the song they had learned that morning in front of everyone, and we all sounded so good. On the last day, leaving was hard, but we all knew we’d hear from each other again.
It was a lot of fun, as I am already trying to go back next year. Thank You for sponsoring me and giving me such a wonderful opportunity.

~ Sarah Byrd