[Harp-L] St. Louis Jam Camp...and more

[backbender1 <backbender1@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi -

Just got back from a crazy road trip that took me to
Richard Sleigh's (awesome harp tech and even awesomer
individual), Buckeye, the St. Louis Jon Gindick Jam
Camp, and Joe Filisko's class in Chicago.

Buckeye is always a hoot (pun intended), especially
with the evening blues jams. Hearing Madcat, Ben
Nathanson and (the finally agreeable) Rosco was a
pleasure. Many thanks should go to Joe FIlisko and his
work to keep the teach-in going at Buckeye. 

After Buckeye I moved down the road to the St. Louis
Jam Camp with Jon Gindick. I have done several of
these before, and it is always a blast! When I first
was asked to do the Jam Camp thing, I gladly accepted
and went to work at my first camp not knowing at all
what to expect. I must say that not only is Jon
Gindick a masterful instructor who knows how to teach
all the basics (and much more) on blues harp, but he
is a pleasure to work with and knows how to make each
student more at ease. Not a camp goes by that I don't
pick up something from Jon myself.

Also, it should be mentioned that Jon's Jam Camps are
NOT just for beginners. During the course of my
weekend in St. Louis, we have covered everything from
playing clean single notes puckered, to understanding
the 12-bar blues format and playing musically over it,
to bending and overblowing precisely with
tongue-blocking...and everything in between. I have
not been to a harmonica event anywhere where these
topics were covered so completely and (with one-on-one
sessions) to each students' own understanding and
involvement.

Adam Gussow was also on board for this Jam Camp, and
it was great to see him again after many years. His
playing still inspires me, and he can seriously teach!
John Costa also demonstrated some great Fox Chase and
other pre-war style harp playing that left everyone
breathless. To have all these players and teachers
available for one weekend together is an amazing
thing. Gindick's Jam Camps have a bright future...

I spent my last day of the trip with Joe Filisko and
his evening group classes at the Old Town School of
Folk Music in Chicago. Joe really has a great thing
going on with his classes, and the level of playing by
his students astounded me...though it doesn't
completely surprise me, knowing Joe had to do with it.
The hang after the class was equally fun, with plenty
of harp stories, including several about Big Walter
from local players who had knew him that are in the
class.

All in all, it was a great weekend for me, and I hope
to see more of you out there...perhaps at a Jam Camp
in the future.

BTW - I don't get paid or even asked to write about
the Jam Camps. I happen to believe in what Jon does
with these Jam Camps, and totally approve of his
teaching methods, down-to-earth approach, and sense of
fun. We both agree it is all about the student.

-Dennis Gruenling
www.dennisgruenling.com



__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com