Upcoming Camp – July 5-7, 2024

Details about the upcoming camp will appear here as they develop.

Last update: June 13, 2024.

Date

In order to minimize conflicts with the many things going on this summer (festivals, BC Swing Camp, Nimble Fingers, etc.) July 5-7, 2024 was chosen. This weekend worked pretty well in 2023 and we had an increase in the number of attendees.

I will be at the site by about noon on Friday, July 5. People can start arriving in the afternoon to set up. The last few years people trickled away by late afternoon on Sunday.

Event Description

Hey fans and players of swing music and Django Reinhardt! Join us for a weekend of camping and jamming July 5-7, 2024 in central Alberta. The focus is acoustic swing music including swing tunes from the great American songbook, Western swing and the music of Django Reinhardt and the Quintet of the Hot Club of France. Acoustic guitars, bass, violins, violas, clarinets, mandolins, accordions, singers, etc. are all welcome. All playing levels are welcome. There will be some experienced players there but newer players are encouraged to come and learn as well. We can split into separate jams for different playing levels.

Activities

Jamming

There will lots of opportunities for jamming all weekend, and there will be enough people we can split into two or three separate groups depending on skill levels.

Instruction

In the past we have had several great music teachers: Cam Neufeld on swing violin and Phill West, Rick Moore and Kevin Jacobson on hot club guitar.

This year’s instructors are

Cam Neufeld – swing violin

Rick Moore – hot club and swing guitar

Kevin Jacobson – upright bass, hot club and swing guitar

Extra special guitar instructor this year: Jeremy Doody. He will be teaching an intermediate-advanced guitar class from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM on Saturday, July 6, 2024.

The workshop title is Melodic Contours of Swing Improv for Guitar.
This is an intermediate level workshop. It will focus on mixing arpeggios, pentatonics, and scale passages. The last hour will be a facilitated jam led by Jeremy.

Depending on interest we can run some additional workshops and beginner instruction as necessary. Possible topics: rhythm guitar, basic swing chords, basic hot club chords, la pompe, repertoire, upright swing bass, mandolin, violin, etc.

Other Activities

If you really need a break from jamming there is a nice park not far away. You could go biking, swimming, etc.

Location

In 2022 and 2023 the camp was held at a private location in Alberta, Canada about a two-hour drive south of Edmonton, one-hour drive north of Calgary not far from the town of Bowden. It is a nice location and works great so we are back there again in 2024.

There is a large grassy area to pitch a tent or park a trailer and set up jam areas. There are some trees around for shade if you like. It is fairly private, away from other facilities so we can jam all we want without interruption or bothering anyone. Please bring pop-up gazebos for shade and rain shelter if you have them. Potable well water is on site. Bring your own water if you prefer. We are renting two outdoor portapotties.

Directions

This is on someone’s personal acreage so for privacy reasons we will give the exact location only to registered participants. I printed out some small signs with our guitar hero on it, to put along the roads near the property to help with navigation.

Somewhere near here!!

Stuff to Bring

Tent or RV
Bring your own food, drinks, toiletries, clothing (for all seasons – it’s Alberta you know), supplies, etc.
Acoustic instruments, tuner
Charts (paper, electronic, iReal pro) – some extras to share if possible
Music stand, chairs
Pop-up gazebo
Propane fire ring

For Saturday night dinner we have ordered some takeout from a nearby restaurant. There are Thai and pizza options close by. You can participate in that if you like, we’ll put together an order together and pay up whatever your meal costs.

Costs

The costs are going to be shared among attendees (no profit here). I am collecting enough to cover the portapotties and paying the instructors. If there is left over money I can hold it for next year for more instructors. So I figure $50 per attendee should cover everything. And that’s a pretty cheap weekend for camping and instruction.

To reserve a spot, please send an etransfer of $50 to:

Kevin Jacobson – the_cave@yahoo.com

Please include your name, email address, instrument(s), skill level and what kind of camping setup to expect (tent, trailer, etc.).

Please email me if you have more questions.

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