Kuumbwa Jazz Camp

Kuumbwa’s Jazz Camp is back in 2023, in partnership with Cabrillo College’s Summer Youth Program!
For over 25 years Kuumbwa’s Jazz Camp has been a destination for dedicated student musicians, grades 8-12, to learn about the thrilling creativity and limitless possibilities of jazz. Featuring nine days of collaboration, learning, and listening, this camp covers all aspects of jazz theory and appreciation, and will help students grow as musicians. Students will receive one-on-one and group instruction by professional music educators. The camp will focus on developing musicianship skills for live performance, basic improvisation, soloing, phrasing, collaboration, and music theory.
All students are required to know at least three major scales and have experience with their instrument. In addition, guitarists and pianists must have the ability to read standard chord symbols and preferably know their triads. Drummers must know standard jazz rhythms.
Dates: June 12th – June 23rd, 2023
Session Options: 9 AM – 12 PM (Grades 8-9), 11 AM – 2 PM (Grades 10-12)
Location: Cabrillo College VAPA room 5156
Cost: $380 through June 2, $395 beginning June 3
Registration: Grades 8-9
Registration: Grades 10-12
Questions about Jazz Camp or scholarship opportunities? Contact Brian Fitzgerald.
Books Required:
8–9 Grades: Real Easy Book volume 1, Sher Music Co.
10–12 Grades: Preferred book: Real Book, 6th Edition, Hal Leonard (any Real Book edition is acceptable, if already owned, for 10th–12th grades)
If you don’t own it already, the camp staff highly recommends getting iReal Book Pro (available for both Apple and Windows operating systems)
Optional Books:
Drummers in grades 8 – 9: Musical Time by Ed Soph
Drummers in grades 10 – 12: The Art of Bop Drumming by John Riley
Guitarists in grades 8 – 9: Complete Jazz Guitar Method: Beginning by Jody Fisher
Guitarists in grades 10 – 12: Complete Jazz Guitar Method: Intermediate Jazz Guitar by Jody Fisher
Purchase online at halleonard.com or other various online sites of your choice.
The Jazz Camp Scholarship Fund is made possible by donations from our local business community and our year round education programs are made possible by generous donations from our many contributors, both individuals and businesses, ands well as Foundations and Agencies: David & Lucile Packard Foundation, William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, Arts Council Santa Cruz County, Community Foundation Santa Cruz County, Monterey Peninsula Foundation, Brian and Patti Herman Donor Advised Fund at CFSCC, David and Abigail Kaun Donor Advised Fund at CFSCC, Kathy Ferraro, Judy Boemer, and the Bill Graham Memorial Fund. Thank you – your support made it possible for us to grant all scholarship requests for the 2019 Jazz Camp.
Click here to make a contribution to the Jazz Camp Scholarship Fund