Peggy's Place
Peggy at SJWjazzcamp forever! 
I have just left the Stanford Jazz Workshop, and am on my way to the Homer Jazz Festival in Alaska. Pretty tired, or at least I should be, but very energized by my experience of the last week
The SJW is a pretty unique experience, in terms of jazzcamps. They are all busy, music-filled days, with the sole purpose of immersing young people in a total jazz experience. What sets this one apart for me is the paying it forward (please don’t think about that weird little film, it’s just an expression) nature of the personnel : for the last 36 years, kids up to age 18 have made their way through this camp, whether they end up as audience or musicians doesn’t matter, it is the community of jazz, at least for these few weeks. The young people that are going forward with their music move up to counselors, mentors, and finally to teachers. It’s all pretty natural, and some of the best playing I’ve heard anywhere. The egos are put aside, as best as possible, and everyone works together to make the best music available…the age range is from 12 to 80, and all those experiences and culture differences are brought to bear in the performances throughout the week. Like you might see someone who has made it to New York, but had come through camp as a kid, up on stage playing in front of some jaw-dropped kids in the front row…Then on the last day, there is a barbeque for all the families, where all the combos perform. I saw many younger children running around, and those will be the future of the jazzcamp population. Then, when they become adults, they will have a genuine somewhat educated understanding of what makes jazz, and who the people of jazz are, and so on, and their kids, on into the future.
I seem to have fallen into a new musical role, and I like it – coaching young vocalists, and then I get to do my jazzchoir. It’s becoming a personal best thing with me – to get whoever is in my choir to sing the difficult intervals in the shortest amount of time: in this instance they had their notes learned in 3 days, but I was lucky – they were focused and talented. The other part I like about it is I get to peruse standard tunes that I normally wouldn’t – exposing the students and myself at the same time. Like I get to play good music all day, in a gentle unforced way : “Hmmm, what’s this tune about?”
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