Austin School of Music
By Margaret Moser, Fri., Aug. 22, 2003
At the Austin School of Music, located in the same building as Strait Music in South Austin, the jazz-camp band is dipping into a punchy rendition of Duke Ellington's "It Don't Mean a Thing," led by a vocalist named Ava, who is scatting with a maturity well beyond her 14 years. Thirteen instrumentalists accompany her, their youthful proficiency astonishing.
By 1pm, the junior jazzers have departed, replaced by the teens in rock & roll camp. It's a distinctly different atmosphere from the Natural Ear Music Camp, though both camps share the same high level of excitement. In a small converted metal building out back, five boys exuding testosterone and confidence break into a hard rock song. Already, they sound like youthful professionals.
And that may be the biggest difference between NEMC and ASM. The distinctions are important, but the goal is the same: Teach kids to play, and teach them to play together. Yet, the differences are many: Kids must audition for ASM camps; the session is two weeks long; students are trained in a 32-track studio, gain hands-on studio experience, and make a demo with their band.
Overseeing camp is, as Director of Operations Tamara Beland says, "a wonderful and gratifying experience." Beland, a veteran theatrical and musical performer, works with CEO Dave Sebree of Strait Music to bring ASM's year-round music program to fruition every summer. The yearlong program offers private lessons and classes for all ages in two locations, with more than 40 local musicians and vocalists like Van Wilks, Kellye Gray, Glenn Rexach, Cid Sanchez, and Rich Harney. Some musicians pull duty with the summer kids, others just teach lessons. ASM's notable graduates include the Loy Sisters and Damesviolet.
As impressive as their rock & roll camp is -- Natalie Zoe's daughter Sascha is now in her third year and sang with her mother at the Austin City Limits Music Festival last year -- the jazz camp is amazing. Here, the budding jazzbos develop basic improvisation skills on blues and modal tunes, learn big-band charts, study basic theory and chord-scale relationships, and dig into the foundation of jazz. They will record two or three songs for a demo and perform it at the end of camp at Antone's.
The Austin School of Music offers a tighter, more focused regimen for its students, though less specific than Saint Stephen's Guitar Workshop, but the end result, along with Natural Ear Music Camp, is a rapidly growing generation of talented and proficient musicians. Where else but the Live Music Capital of the World?
Austin School of Music, contact Tamara Beland at 476-7666 or www.austinschoolofmusic.com.
