2009 Wrap up

The 2009 festival is now complete. Thanks to all our workshop particpants for a great week of music making. This is probably the largest and best group of workshop parcipants that we have had since starting the program. It was a fun week of great music making all around.

Day 5

Today was the final day of the sixth edition of the South Delta Jazz Festival. After a morning of some fine tuning rehearsals to get ready we moved all our gear from the community centre over to Delta Hospital to prepare for our afternoon performance under the Envision tent for the folks at Delta Hospital. Our five student workshop combos performed from 12 until 3pm on the outdoor stage at the hospital. Thanks to Envision Credit union for providing the tent for this year's event, and for Delta Hospital Foundation for organizing such a fine event.

This evening was our final performance of the festival. Steve Maddock delivered a wonderful concert of standards with Lorne Kellett at the piano and the faculty band. A great evening was had by all. What a great wrap up to a wonderful week of music making.
Looking forward to next year!

Day 4

Jazz workshop day 4, the week continues... Today featured local Vancouver saxophonist David Branter in two performances and a masterclass with our saxophone students. Dave performed with the faculty band at lunch and gave us a small taste of what was to come this evening. Dave chose a mix of compositions including standards and original compositions by both himself and Jared Burrows.

Dave gave a saxophone masterclass this afternoon. His class was about jazz improvisation and use of Bebop scales. He took our students through a series of quick exercises that explored the use of myxolydian scales and a few patterns to help unlock the doors to modern bebop playing and help us aquire the technical facility to play such complicated patterns.

Dave teaches at Vancouver Community College and has a website of saxophone essentials that has some online lessons, complete with mp3 and video clips. I would encourage our musicians to check it out.

Tonight's evening concert was a gas, easily one of the best performances of the fesitval so far with Dave and the band receiving a rousing standing ovataion at the end. Bravo!!

Tomorrow is the final day, with the student ensembles performing at Delta Hospital from 1 - 3pm, and the special evening concert with Steve Maddock and Lorne Kellett at the Tsawwassen Arts Centre. Tickets are going fast, only $10 - available at South Coast Casuals and at the door.

Day 3

Day 3 of the workshop we welcomed our second guest performer of the week, John Doheny from New Orleans. John gave a rousing noon hour performance, followed by a guest lecture about the life and music of New Orleans. John teaches at Tulane University in New Orleans, and one of the courses he teaches there is about New Orleans and its rich tradition of jazz, from the street music Caribbean roots to its traditional brass bands and funeral marches, something we will probably never really see in this country, or even in other places in the US.

Tonight was the live jazz jam at Petras with our workshop students and extra guests. About 100 people came through this evening to see friends and hear our students performing. The weather came through for us, after being rainy and cool earlier this week today it warmed up and sun came out. It was a great evening, with lots of workshop musicians and other guests coming out to perform. Thanks to Petra for hosting us.

Tomorrow we have Dr. Dave Branter coming out to work with us. Dave is one of Vancouver's top saxophonists, and we are looking forward to having him perform and work with our students.

Day 2

Day 2 of the workshop and festival was another busy day of music making. Today the faculty band was featured in a concert at the McKee Seniors Recreation Centre. This evening some of our workshop students performed at Diefenbaker Park with the Bossa Boys in a free concert sponsored by Delta Parks and Rec.

Tomorrow's noon hour concert will feature saxophonist John Doheny. Originaly from Seattle, John lived in Vancouver for a while in the 1970's and again in the early 90's. John has toured with a wide range of Jazz and pop groups including the Platters, the Drifters, and Doug and the Slugs. John now lives in New Orleans, where our resident workshop basist, Rob Kohler also lives and works.

Tomorrow evening (Thursday) is the open jazz jam session at Petra's Kafe in Tsawwassen. Come out and enjoy some live jazz, and of course - bring your horn!

Day 1

Today was the first day of the sixth edition of the South Delta Jazz Workshop and festival. The rain did not dampen any spirits as we met with all the workshop students and divided them out into our ensemble groups. The first noon hour concert of the festival featured a spirited performance by Delta's own Chris Davis on trumpet. Chris also gave a master class to our trumpet students this afternoon.

Originally from Florida, Chris finds himself living here in Ladner BC with his family and is fast becoming part of the local Vancouver Jazz scene. I caught Chris playing this past weekend with clarinetist James Danderfer at the Vancouver International Jazz Festival, and his performance both today and last Sunday was very fine. He displayed his wonderful talents today on both trumpet and fugelhorn.

Tomorrow the Fesitval continues with a noon-hour concert at the McKee Seniors Recreational Centre featuring our Workshop Faculty Band.

South Delta Jazz Workshop instructions

Greetings Jazz Workshop Participants,

This is important information. Please read all of it!

I hope you are all looking forward to the South Delta Jazz Workshop as much as we are! We have a great week of music, learning, and fun planned for everyone.

The workshop begins Tuesday, July 7 at 9:30 am. We will meet at Ladner Community Centre. 4734 - 51^st St. in Ladner.

• Please do not be late as we will have a lot to do on the first day!
• If you have a drum set or other gear to unload, please come a little earlier
• Parents, please plan to stick around for the first 30 minutes or so.

As usual we have a wide range of students from beginner level high school players through to very advanced semi-pro players. Students will be assigned ensembles to work with on the first day. Placement may change as we get to know your abilities, needs, and personalities. Our full-time faculty members will rotate among the groups on a daily basis. We expect a high level of courtesy and respect among all participants in the Workshop. We have never had any behaviour problems in the past and we hope to keep it that way again this year.

Please bring everything you will need for making music: extra reeds, valve oil, patch cables, picks, strings, staff paper, pencils and eraser. Drummers, bass players, and guitarists are requested to bring their own amplifiers and drum kits. This equipment can be left at the workshop for the duration. If you don't have an amplifier or drum kit please contact us immediately so we can help arrange to get one for you. We will have music stands available. Make sure all of your gear is labelled clearly so it doesn't get lost.

All students should bring a lunch and a snack or two. There is very limited time for students to purchase a lunch from the mall as lunch time is also concert time with our guest artists and faculty and all students are required to attend the these concerts. Food is important for an event of this kind. We strongly suggest that you bring something healthy that will provide you with the energy you will need for a very full day of music making.

Daily Schedule of Events:

9:30 – 10:20 Aural Skills

10:20 -10:30 Break

10:30 – 11:30 Improvisation Class/Ensemble Rehearsals

11:30 – 12:00 Lunch and noon concert set-up time

12:00 – 1:15 Noon Concert (you can keep eating while you listen!)

1:15 – 2:45 Ensemble rehearsal and/or masterclasses with guest artists

2:45 – 3:00 Break

3:00 – 4:30 Ensemble rehearsal 2

Jam Session at Petra’s Arts Kafe

Thursday July 9 from 7-9pm is our workshop jam session. This is open to workshop participants and to anyone in the community who plays jazz. This is a really fun part of the workshop. If you don't know what a jam session is or how it works, DON"T WORRY the workshop will prepare you for it!

Final Concert Information

Saturday (July 11) schedule will be a little different as the student concert will take place from 12-3pm at the Delta Hospital Grounds. Our final performance will be part of the Delta Hospital Foundation Summer Gala. Parents, spouses, and friends are all welcome to this concert or any of the noon hour shows. Admission to noon shows and final student concert is free. Rehearsals on Saturday will run at the Community Centre as usual from 9:30-11 and then we will be heading over to the hospital grounds for our final performance. We will need help transporting students between the Community Centre and Delta Hospital, so if you can help us drive on that day please let us know.

Please note that there are evening concerts on July 10 and 11.

Students receive free admission to these events and are expected to attend these concerts as part of the learning process. The evening concerts are an important and required part of the program for workshop participants. We could use some help selling tickets to these concerts. We can give you one free ticket for every three that you sell. Tickets are only $10. Check our website for show details. www.southdeltajazzfestival.com

If you have received scholarship funding to attend the camp you will be notified before the start of the workshop. You will be asked to write a letter thanking our various sponsors. We will provide the mailing address and other information for this letter.

Photographs

We’ll be taking photographs of workshop activities throughout the week. The photos will help us promote the workshop in coming years and help us get funding from sponsors and government organizations. If you do not want pictures of yourself or your child used in this way, please let us know. If you take some photos yourself, we'd love to have digital copies for our website or facebook page

Please contact us if you have any questions.

We look forward to working with all of you!

Best regards,

Jared Burrows and Stephen Robb

Directors, South Delta Jazz Workshop

South Delta Jazz fest on Facebook

South Delta Jazz Festival is a group on Facebook. find us here

Jazz takes Centre Stage next week

Sixth annual South Delta Jazz Workshop and Festival features afternoon and evening performances

Dave Willis, The Delta Optimist

Published: Saturday, July 04, 2009

Fans of jazz music have plenty to look forward to next week.

The sixth annual South Delta Jazz Workshop and Festival, featuring a range of lunchtime and evening performances, runs from Tuesday to Saturday in Ladner and Tsawwassen.

"I'm really excited about it," says co-founder and organizer Jared Burrows. "The concerts, I think, will be really exciting."

South Delta Jazz Festival co-founder Jared Burrows (above) will all perform next week.

Burrows, a guitarist and Delta Community Music School faculty member, will be performing with the Dave Branter Quartet on Friday at the Tsawwassen Arts Centre, one of the event's two evening shows.

"Dave was a person I looked up to as a musician when I was a teenager," says Burrows, adding that Branter is well known as a teacher and large ensemble conductor.

Branter is the department head at the Vancouver Community College School of Music and has directed, co-directed or co-produced four CDs with the Pacific Symphonic Wind Ensemble, a group he formerly directed.

He's performed with the CBC Jazz Orchestra, the Alan Matheson Nonet and the Colin MacDonald Pocket Orchestra. Branter has also played lead alto sax in Burrows' big band, the East Van Jazz Orchestra.

"In my mind, he's one of the most exciting saxophone players around," Burrow says.

The second evening show will feature vocalist Steve Maddock and pianist Lorne Kellett performing with workshop faculty members Rob Kohler on bass and Stan Taylor on drums.

Maddock, who has been a soloist with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Chamber Choir and the Dal Richards Jazz Orchestra, was at the South Delta event two years ago.

"He's a fantastic vocalist," says Burrows. "It'll be great to have him back."

Tickets for both evening concerts, which are sponsored by the B.C. Arts Council, are available at South Coast Casuals in Ladner Village. Tickets cost $10. Both shows are set for 7:30 p.m. at the Tsawwassen Arts Centre.

Aside from Maddock, the other guest artists -- Branter, trumpet player Chris Davis and saxophonist John Doheny -- are newcomers to the event.

"I think audiences like to know some of the people on stage but I think it's important to have some variety," says Burrows, noting the workshop faculty members are all returning artists.

Students taking part in the five-day jazz workshop will get a chance to perform jazz standards and original compositions for the public Saturday at Delta Hospital from noon to 3 p.m.

SOUTH DELTA JAZZ FESTIVAL LINEUP:

Tuesday, July 7 at noon -- Chris Davis at the Ladner Community Centre.

Wednesday, July 8 at noon -- Workshop faculty band at the McKee Seniors' Recreation Centre.

Thursday, July 9 at noon -- John Doheny at the McKee Seniors' Recreation Centre.

Thursday, July 9 from 7 to 10 p.m. -- Jazz Jam at Petra's Arts Kafe.

Friday, July 10 at noon -- Workshop faculty band at the Ladner Community Centre.

Friday, July 10 at 7:30 p.m. -- Dave Branter Quartet at the Tsawwassen Arts Centre.

Saturday, July 11 from noon to 3 p.m. -- Student ensembles at Delta Hospital.

Saturday, July 11 at 7:30 p.m. -- Steve Maddock in concert with Lorne Kellett at the Tsawwassen Arts Centre.