Jazz School with Jazz Guitarist Mimi Fox
Jul 23rd, 2008 by admin
Hey all. I took a little break time and now, feeling somewhat refreshed. I’m back in the game…so to speak. In the “I thought you would like to know” department, I received an email from Jazz Guitar great Mimi Fox about a five day Summer Guitar Intensive that she has put together from August 11 to the 15th at the Jazz School in Berkeley, California. Joining her throughout those five days will be two other Guitar luminaries: Henry Johnson and John Stowell. This is definitely my kind of schooling and I would advise anyone interested in taking their Jazz skills to the next level to consider attending this event. If you don’t know Mimi or want to get to know her a little better, check out my interview with Mimi on Jazz Guitar Life. She is a way talented player, teacher and a nice person as well. I have cut and pasted the email Mimi sent me below so check it out if you feel this is something of interest. If you do attend, please feel free to let me know how it went.
Jazz School Summer Guitar Intensive/August 11-15A week long intensive for aspiring professionals,this yearsntensive features guest artist Henry Johnson fromChicago.Henry has played with many jazz luminariesincluding Freddie Hubbard,Ramsey Lewis,Nancy Wilson andscores of others.Also on board this summer is the highlydistinctive John Stowell from Portland.The great rhythmsection of John Shiflet and Jason Lewis will be working with students each day in preparation for the final concert on Friday August 15th.A discounted evening concert atYoshi’s jazz club is also part of the package for thisyears intensive students.The daily schedule is as follows:
9-10:30a.m. master class with Henry Johnson
10:45-11:45 Rhythm Section workout
11:45-12:30 Lunch and jam session
12:45-1:45 solo guitar mastery with Mimi Fox
2-3p.m. transcription class of jazz guitar masters
3-4p.m.Thinking outside the box with John Stowell
For more about the program contact Mimi Fox/director atthis email address (mightymeems@yahoo.com) Informationabout the artists can also be found at their respectivewebsites.Thank you!
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Guitar Arpeggio Studies on Jazz Standards Taught by Mimi Fox. For Guitar (All). Improvisation. Private Lessons Series. Jazz. Level: Intermediate-Advanced. Book/CD Set. 40 pages. Published by Mel Bay Publications, Inc. (20623BCD) See more info… |
I attended the recital by the student from this guitar intensive. Took my 14-year-old nephew who was visiting. Each of the students got one song, often with another student comping. Clearly, some of the students were more experienced than others, with a couple of them quite skelled indeed. As I am not a player, I can only say that I was quite impressed. But then the teachers came out for a couple of songs. The three (Johnson, Stowell, and Fox) did two songs together - Mimi’s “Blues for Two” and “Caravan”. They did the traditional each take a solo, but there was also a segment in each tune where all three were improvising at once. Most stiking was when the rhythm section dropped out for a while during the group improv during Blues. I had never seen Stowell before and was struck by his different choices in his solos and comping. Mimi I HAVE seen before, and I am always blown away. She seemed particluarly on both at this show and at the San Jose Jazz fest a week earlier. I seem to see her about once a year, and I guess the amazement wears off between shows, because I am ready to be amazed every time.
Anyhow, I suspect even a fairly advanced player would get something from this type of guitar class judging from the student’s performances. And judging from the teacher’s performances even a fairly advanced student would have some strong role models for future improvement.