Jazz and You! Workshop

We are very pleased to be able to offer a unique opportunity for the community to take part in a Jazz workshop the morning before the Jazz festival!

With Lois Deloatch, vocalist and John Brown, bassist, the interactive workshop will take place the morning of the Jazz Festival September 25, 2010 from 10:00 am to 11:30 am.

Presented by the Hillsborough Arts Council and sponsored by the North Carolina Humanities Council, this workshop being offered free to pre-registered participants who are attending the Hillsborough Jazz Festival. A registration form can be found here.

Check out this John Brown video 'Overview of performances and Teaching'

Lois Deloatch (vocalist) and John Brown (bassist) will conduct a ninety (90) minute jazz workshop that enables participants (musicians, vocalists, and the community-at-large) to experience and better understand jazz and its musical predecessors, Blues and Spirituals.

This fun and interactive presentation is designed to engage people of all ages in the exploration of traditional and contemporary jazz. Emphasizing the use of music as a means of communicating within and across cultures, the workshop will incorporate both improvised and composed music. Based on the Jazz for Young People Curriculum developed by Jazz at Lincoln Center, the primary goals of this lecture-demonstration are to share, teach, and celebrate jazz music.

Workshop Features:

• Warm-up exercises (10 minutes)
• Participants will learn simple singing techniques including breath control and posture.
• Participants will learn a simple jazz composition which they will perform together.
• What is jazz – what is swing? (20 minutes)
• Brief history of the origins of jazz including demonstrations of Spirituals and Blues.
• Demonstrate various styles of jazz emphasizing the elements of swing and improvisation.
• The North Carolina Jazz Connection (20 minutes)
• Discuss and demonstrate important jazz figures such as John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Nina Simone, and Billy Strayhorn.
• Explore various explanations regarding why North Carolina was and continues to be fertile ground for jazz.
• Group mini-concert ( 30 minutes)
• Participants (musicians and vocalists) will learn and perform one or two jazz compositions. 
• Questions, answers and wrap-up (10 minutes)
  

Objectives and Outcomes:

The workshop will seek to Increase participants’ knowledge of jazz, blues, and spirituals and help participants to develop an understanding of and appreciation for the rich history of this unique art form.

Discussions will reveal Billy Strayhorn’s connection to Hillsborough and discuss his vast contributions to jazz.

Workshop participants will have the opportunity to participate in the creation and performance of improvised music.

In addition we will examine and discuss stylistic elements found in jazz while providing context for the development of jazz, blues, and spirituals in America’s history.

Instructors Bios

Find John Browns Bio and images here

Find Lois Deloatch's Bio and images here

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This Workshop is sponsored by the North Carolina Humanities Council, a statewide nonprofit and affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.