* jazzcamp portland ryanmeahger * Ryan Meahger’s Jazz Camp 2017

A most sincere thanks to Ryan and Cuong Vu for letting me sit in & observe

* jazzcamp portland ryanmeahger * RYAN MEAGHER’S JAZZ CAMP 2017     None of us (well, at least most of us) can be “true” jazz players without a whole regimen of practice and instruction from those who’ve already traveled the road.  At Ryan Meahger’s invitation, I took a very nice trip down to Longview, Washington on a great sunny day to watch the seasoned jazz guitar player and legendary trumpeter Cuong Vu lend a bit of their experience to folks wanting to dig deeper into how to play good solid jazz… here are a couple shots of Ryan and Cuong Vu in playing mode:

      I’ve reviewed both of these high-energy players frequently, so it was clear to me that those sitting in on the camp would be getting well-qualified insights… it took me a few minutes to find the Rose Center for the Arts, but here it is in all it’s shining glory –

     Ryan welcomed me to the session the group was in & even gave me an intro (thanks, Ryan) as “that old codger up the road”… just kidding, of course.  What I observed while watching the session is that Ryan is both engaging and engaged with those he’s teaching…

In only a few short minutes, the players had gone from listening to the original record to doing it on their own… very effective teaching and development… watch below as they perform their third (or so) iteration of Horace Silver’s “Song For My Father”…

That wasn’t the “final” version, of course… they would spend a good part of the day rehearsing Horace’s wonderful song together in preparation for a concert performance (today, the 23rd of July, I believe).

I had to leave earlier than expected, but you can be assured that I will be hooking up with Ryan for many more of the jazz events he makes happen in the Portland area.  This was, to say the least, a very impressive jazz learning event, and I’m hoping to witness the next one when it happens.