Why Tritone?

“There seem to be a lot of jazz camps,” the caller said.  “Why Tritone rather than Aebersold, Jazz Vermont, Jazz Camp West, Litchfield, or many others?”

The question is legit.  There are many good jazz camps but each offers a somewhat different experience and appeals to a different type of player.  We don’t claim to know any camp but our own; what we know about the others is only hearsay from Tritone campers who have attended them (some of our campers attend multiple camps every summer and get something valuable from each). So we’ll restrict our comments to what Tritone campers tell us they like:

• Adults only. Tritone is specifically geared to the adult learner, so campers rub shoulders with people more or less their age.  No high school or college kids unless they’re the children of adult campers, and even then their activities are restricted.
• Personal attention. Our camper-to-faculty ratio never exceeds 5:1. Most faculty members are around all week, so it’s never difficult to find answers to questions or get help outside of classes.  We rarely exceed 50 campers in any camp, so every session is small and personal.
• Multi-talented faculty. You’ll find monster players on every camp’s faculty, but are they also great teachers and great people?  Ours have it all.  We’ve turned away some marquee-name players as faculty because they fall short on the other two essential qualities.
• Lots of options. Instrumentalists can play in both big band and combo every day–no need to choose one or the other.  If big band isn’t for you, we’ll find something else for you to do during that 90-minute daily slot.  Three levels of jazz theory to choose from–beginner, intermediate, and advanced.  Three different, faculty-coached jam sessions–beginner, experienced, and singer’s cabaret.
• Two different venues, both beautiful. Jazz at Naz (Rochester, NY) offers the comfort and convenience of a small college campus, with plenty of air-conditioned classroom space, practice rooms, and dorms.  Cool at the Lake (Baileys Harbor, WI) offers the magnificent, remote Bjorklunden retreat–400 acres on Lake Michigan, with plenty of air-conditioned room for all activities and lots of outdoors to enjoy.
• Chilled out. Tritone offers plenty of opportunities to learn and challenge yourself, but no danger of increasing your blood pressure.  In fact, it’s quite the opposite. The general mood is always fun-loving and laid-back.

Play.  Learn.  Laugh.

In your Face(book)

We’ve just started a Facebook group called Tritone Jazz Fantasy Campers as a place to keep the friendships going long after the camps end.  If you’re on Facebook and would like to keep in touch with fellow campers, post messages about what you’re up to, promote your projects or whatever, log in and join up.