Django in June 2011/2012

[Jim Abrams]

I'm really going to try to make to Django in June in 2012. I'm wondering if any Cafe members attended as a student last June and would like to comment on the experience. Also, does anyone know the dates for next June? I know it's a bit early to ask about dates at this point but it won't hurt to plan ahead.

[Dan Margolis]

The dates don't seem to be posted yet.

http://www.djangoinjune.com/

[asicard]

Jim - I attended in 2011 and had a great experience. Aaron Weinstein and Jason Anick were the mandolin instructors. There were only four mandolin player/students during the week, and a few more showed up for the weekend. There was a lot of one-on-one attention.

Guitar-heavy participation did sort of overpower mandolins in the jams... and it sort of felt like the mandolin's role in a gypsy jazz setting is still a bit undefined. You should know that "Djamming" is very different from bluegrass jamming and bringing a copy of the Django fakebook would be a good idea. Take advantage of the pre-event learning materials/resources if you want to get the most out of your time there.

I did learn a huge amount from Aaron's sessions in particular and felt as though it was well worth the time/expense.

The musicianship and performances were top notch. Andrew does a great job of organizing the event and the accommodations/facilities at Smith College are wonderful.

Hope this is helpful!

- Andy

[Jim Abrams]

Thanks Andy. That's a very helpful review. As I mentioned earlier, I'm planning to make it this year. I notice that on the Django in June website there is a "get ready musically" section with lead sheets and chords for the songs. I've been working my way through a number of the pieces. The whole event looks really worthwhile. Thanks again.

[Trevor Thomas]

I’m really keen on going to this next year. I wanted to go last year, precisely because of Aaron and Jason, both of whom I hold in very high regard. When I heard it was in Northampton, I was very excited, as I though I’d be able to attend and also leave on the Saturday in time to do my wedding gig. Then I found out it was Northampton Massachusetts, not Northampton in the South of England! This also meant that the travel costs were also somewhat higher, so I couldn’t do it. However, with time to budget I’m very much hoping that it’s a goer next year.

This type of music is somewhat of a minority niche (although interest is certainly growing at the grass roots level), and to try and play it on the mandolin, well there’s only only a handful of us in the world.

In the UK there’s lots of sessions. For the folk and traditional – countless thousands. For bluegrass, over a hundred, and for Gypsy Jazz, there’s about 10.

Like a lot of mandolin players, I play some guitar as well, and I’ve been trying to transfer some guitaristic stuff onto the mandolin, which I’ve found very helpful. However, I think spending some time with guys who are also serious violin players, and have a violinistic (?) approach would open my tiny mind in all sorts of ways.

I have a question though – like I say I play some guitar as well. Is it possible to mix classes between guitar and mandolin, or are you expected to stick with one instrument for the whole week?

[asicard]

Hi Trevor,

You can sit in on any workshops you like. There are no restrictions really. A grid or schedule of sessions is posted at the beginning of the week - sorted out by instrument/instructor and level.

I should mention that there is instructor led jamming at the camp too, and a daily warm-up session to go through the 'getting-ready' songs posted provided prior to the event. It's really well thought out and organized.

Attendees/Instructors come from all over the world. Lots of folks from the Pacific Northwest, Canada and abroad. It's a great community of people!

If I can swing it (no pun intended), I'd love to attend again in 2012.

Best,

Andy

[asicard]

2012 Dates: June 12 - 17!

[Trevor Thomas]

Thanks for this Andy! Now Christmas is out of the way I'm going to be saving up. I really hope to be able to attend this year.

Are there any ideas as to who the mandolin teacher/s might be?

[AndrewL]

Hi Folks:
Andrew Lawrence here. I'm the organizer and chief pompe-pusher of Django in June (the dates of which are indeed June 12-17 this year). To answer Trevor's question, our mandolin instructor this year will be Paul Glasse, who was glowingly recommended to me by Don Steinberg. Paul's the one that alerted me to this thread (thanks Paul!) and I'm sure he'll be available for any questions you may have for him. You are also welcome to ask me anything you like about the event and the role of mandolin at it.

For what it's worth, here's just a little of my thinking on the subject. The original inspiration for Django in June was a trip I took to France some years ago, to the big Django festival in Samois-sur-Seine. It was immediately obvious to me upon setting foot in the campground that the European guitarists' approach to this musical tradition was very, very different than what most American guitarists were doing when they played in what they considered to be "the style". I won't go into the details here... Suffice it to say that I thought there might be an interest among Americans for an opportunity to get good, in-person education and exposure to what I was hearing in Europe. So that's our "niche", if you will. Django Camp -- the full-immersion music camp part of our program -- is still the only event of its kind in the US devoted to the GJ tradition. (And the Europeans tell me, there's nothing like it over there, either! They dig it.)

OK, so...how does mandolin fit in? Well, that's for you to decide, isn't it? The way it looks to me, this is about the most string-friendly style of jazz on the planet, and it shouldn't matter how many strings you've got to work with. The fact that it is guitar-dominated just means that (1) the music tends to be played in keys we're more familiar with and (2) you have a helluva rhythm section at the ready. The big advantage you have over the guitarists is that, since there's no indigenous gypsy-jazz-mandolin tradition, you don't have to rebuild your right-hand technique to play this music in a "legit" way. Just learn some of the repertoire and start swingin'.

Personally, I don't see why mandolin players with an interest in the jazzier end of the spectrum wouldn't love, love, love playing this music and Django in June offers a unique opportunity to get both great instruction and as much djamming as your poor blistered fingers can take. I do my bit by hiring the best teachers I can find and by extending a welcoming hand. I hope some of you will take me up on the offer and give it a try.

~Andrew
Django in June

[Jim Abrams]

I've seen videos of Paul Glasse workshops on YouTube, which look to be creative and fun. He's a great player too, of course. I'm looking forward to this summer's Django camp. Thanks for the info Andrew.

[tomstewart]

Jim,

I've been to Django in June a number of times, for mandolin and guitar. The instruction is world class but also very specific to the students. There are a lot of repeaters because the overall experience is so fantastic. My great joy is the jam sessions and while guitarists do outnumber all other instruments, ther are so many jams going on that you can be playing with a variety of people in small and large jam sessions, quite a bit of the time, going well into the evening. The biggest challenge is trying to sleep when there is so much music going on that you want to participate in.

If you like Gypsy Jazz, I've heard people like Tim Kliphuis say this is the best organized, user friendly, pastoral setting GJ camp in the country. The setting at Smith College couldn't be more ideal in terms of a gorgeous campus that we have a lot of privacy in. The dorms are plush and filled with additional jamming space. Being right in the heart of Northampton also adds to the experince - such a cool, hip , little town.

The camp attracts a lot of interesting players from all over the US and elsewhere. Great place to meet a bunch of musically, like minded folks, As you can tell, I'm crazy about the event. I belong to a large djamming group in Boston (GJ, Swing,) and it all began at Django in June. Andrew is a very friendly guy, wonderful promoter of this music and a class act.

[Trevor Thomas]

Thanks very much for this, Andrew!

The music is very much a niche interest, but I believe it’s a growing one. And amongst mandolin players, well, there’s only a handful worldwide with an interest.

I don’t think there’s anything ‘exactly’ like Djangocamp in Europe – certainly not in the UK. In particular, Djangocamp is the only one I know of in the world with any mandolin content!

I know a little about Mr Glasse, from Mandolin Café. It seems to me that although the area of jazz mandolin is a small tradition, he’s very much a part of it, with a direct connection to the older players.

I wish I’d gone last year – if I don’t go this year I know I’ll regret it.

[John McGann]

I taught two or three years at DIJ and would also like to endorse it as a fantastic environment for both learning and jamming at all levels. Paul Glasse is one of our finest mandolinists on the planet, as are so many of the other instructors from whom you can learn so much...if I were a student, I'd be sure to bring a digital recorder and be prepared to capture at least a year's worth of information and music to work on. It is great bang for the buck, a beautiful area and a great community of people. There is NO anti-mandolin prejudice whatsoever, despite the fact that it's not a "traditional" instrument in the idiom. In fact, several of the European master players seemed very happy about having them around!

Andrew has done an excellent job of building Django In June over the years.

[Trevor Thomas]

Mr McGann, I wish I'd gone when you were teaching too! I certainly wanted to, but financial circumstances dictated that it was not to be.

I've recently started your downloadable lessons on this style, as well. I just wanted to say thanks for that!

Nobody needs to talk me into it any more - I'm convinced! I just need to find the cheapest travel option - perhaps a train from New York? - and start saving and budgeting. I hope to see some of you there!

[pefjr]

Django today:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3IQL..._order&list=UL

[asicard]

There is NO anti-mandolin prejudice whatsoever, despite the fact that it's not a "traditional" instrument in the idiom. In fact, several of the European master players seemed very happy about having them around!

Agreed! I did not mean to imply this in my earlier post. This is a great, great event and I feel terrible if my comment was interpreted this way.

Guitar-heavy participation did sort of overpower mandolins in the jams...

Those guitars are loud – that’s all I meant!

It’s a blessing that Andrew includes the mandolin in his program, despite the instrument not having the same legacy/history of traditional gypsy jazz instruments.

You will love, love, love playing this music and Django in June offers a unique opportunity to get both great instruction and as much djamming as your poor blistered fingers can take

Agreed!

[John McGann]

Hi Andy- I didn't mean to imply that you were implying anything Just wanted to reassure mandolinists that, although there aren't a lot of high profile full time professional "Gypsy Jazz Mandolinists" playing alongside the famous guitarists, the mandolin seems to be accepted in general by both fans and players. Just don't do the Monroe chop! Check out Django's rhythm playing, as well as the classic swing masters like Freddie Green and modern masters like:

[Barry Canada]

I was wondering how many mandolin participants attended the last couple of years?
Thanks!

[Trevor Thomas]

OK, so. Earlier this year I made a decision to budget and plan properly and make the long and arduous journey to Massachuss.., er, Masachu.., er, America to attend Django in June. I’m very pleased to say that I’ve done this and I’ll be heading there next week.
I’ll be taking a really cool mandolin, and I’ve made arrangements to hire a guitar locally while I’m there, as I’m hoping to learn a bit of guitar as well as a bit of mandolin.
I’m tremendously excited about this, and really looking forward to meeting Paul Glasse.
It’ll be my first time in that area of the US (he said, neatly avoiding having to spell the state’s name). I’m travelling on my own, which I’m slightly nervous about – if I absent mindedly forget something, or go to the wrong airport or something, then it’s all down to me. Still, it all makes it more of an adventure, doesn’t it?
I’ll be arriving on the Monday night, and I’m looking forward to meeting any fellow Co-mandos/Mandoliers/Mandolinquents or whatever the collective noun is these days. If anyone else from the cafe is going, then I’ll see you there!

[Larry S Sherman]

I'm not going, but it's in my neck of the woods. The year I went John McGann taught the mando track. I actually found the guitar part very interesting, and shortly after found a gypsy guitar and began lessons with a local Django style player. Of course, I eventually traded the guitar, and miss it a lot now.

You will love it...it's a great town, inspiring playing, and wonderful instruction. I might try to catch the final performances if I can, but I'm too busy to attend the lessons.

Larry

[Trevor Thomas]

Hi Larry - I wish I could have met Mr McGann in person. It's especially poignant that he even chimes in earlier in this thread.

I love playing the guitar, and hope to pick up some things whilst at DIJ, but on the other hand, I feel like I could learn the guitar stuff another time. There seems to be quite a few resources available for guitar playing, (Books, teachers, DVDs, clinics etc) there’s really not much at all for mandolin playing in this style. So the mandolin side is going to be my main focus – trying to figure it out on my own would take ages, and like you, I’m just too busy.

If you do come to any of the events, come and say hello! I don’t anticipate there’ll be very many English fellers with mandolins, so I shouldn’t be too hard to track down!

[i/vibe]

so, did anyone on here make it to this yrs festivities? thoughts?

[taboot]

I've always liked the look of this event, were any mandolin cafe members in attendance? I'd be inclined to go if I lived on the other coast.

[Trevor Thomas]

Hi Taboot.
I travelled to Northampton Mass. from the North of England, which is perhaps a little further than the ‘other’ coast, but not too much. There were people who’d travelled from as far afield as Canada, San Francisco, and of course France and the Netherlands

Every time I go to America there’s always an element of culture shock for me, but not necessarily in a bad way, and it’s always exciting to see new things. In the case of Northampton, it was unlike anywhere I’ve been before – there were houses with wooden ‘clinker built’ walls, like I’ve only ever seen it in films or on TV. It was very attractive, with lots of impressive buildings.

The mandolin class had about 8 of us, with some more at the weekend. We were vastly outnumbered by the legion of guitarists. Paul Glasse was the mandolin teacher, and he was very friendly, patient and of course hugely knowledgeable. He showed us lots of really cool stuff (some of which I hope to be able to remember), and made time to include everyone. Everyone in the class was friendly, and generous with their knowledge and experience. If I’ve got a criticism, it was that one or two of them wanted to spend the whole class talking about theory – I learn best by doing stuff, so I wanted to spend more time playing. But there you are – in any group of people there’s going to be people with different learning approaches.

Outside the classes, there were constantly several jams going off. Everywhere you turned. And most of this was to a very high standard. I was not, for the most part, confident enough to elbow my way into these very often, but I got a huge amount of pleasure (and learnt a great deal) from listening.

The concerts were phenomenal – the sheer skill and artistry of all the musicians was a delight to behold.

For anyone with an interest in the style, I’d thoroughly recommend this as an experience – if you play guitar (or fiddle) as well then there’s even more classes to choose from. For mandolinists I’d doubly recommend it because there’s no other music camp that does any mandolin teaching in this style of music.

I want to go back. If fortune is on my side, I’ll go next year.

[Jim Abrams]

Thanks for the report Trevor. The whole week sounds like a great time. I wanted to go this past summer but a health problem prevented it. Next year. By the way, my wife is from Darlington in Co. Durham, not too far from Sheffield. This year I'll be dividing my practice time between Django and Northumbrian tunes (a bit north of both Sheffield and Darlington I know). Maybe if you go to DIJ next year we can share some music from northern England, in addition to gypsy jazz.