About the Instructors:

Paul Blackwell - Francisco/Bay area transplant, Paul grew up in the 60's playing rock & roll. He chanced upon a Martin flat top mandolin and began playing bluegrass and western swing in the late 70's -early 80's with Redding's EZ Pickin Band. The yearly trek to DjangoFest Northwest in Langley, Washington cemented a love and devotion to the gypsy swing idiom. Switching to the mandola two years ago provided a better fit for the aesthetics and the fuller sound of the music. "I find the mandolin and mandola interchangeable in the context of gypsy jazz and swing - utilizing the same finger patterns and chord positions."

Cyd Smith started out as a classic guitarist, but was lured away early on by the soulfulness and sheer fun of playing American roots music: bluegrass, vintage country, jug band, swing, jazz, and rock & roll. Over the years she has lived in many corners of this country, playing guitar and bass with different bands, including contra dance and swing music in Boston with Matt Glaser and Russ Barenberg, swing with The Wholly Cats, Bob Brozman, and many others in the Northwest, and bluegrass with Laurie Lewis in the Bay Area. She is also a fine singer/songwriter who has released an album of her own material that features some of the finest musicians on the West Coast. The Bay Area Guardian says ?An extremely gifted songwriter from the Northwest, Cyd Smith sometimes sounds like a missing Roche sister on her fine self-produced CD.? Cyd?s taught for over 20 years at Puget Sound Guitar Workshop, and served several years as a board member there as well. She?s also taught at the California Coast Music Camp, the Georgia Strait Guitar Workshop and the Augusta Heritage Festival. She was a co-founder and administrator of Seattle's Musical Arts Workshop, taught at Rogue Valley Community College in Grant?s Pass, Oregon, and has taught privately ove r the years as well.

Lynda Scheben will be assisting her husband Paul by providing rhythm back-up to the workshops and avail herself to guitarists interested in exposure to gypsy rhythms and chord shapes. The gypsy style is a very rhythm-driven sound and multiple rhythm guitarists are not uncommon. Guitarists will have the opportunity to play in a classic, gypsy ensemble setting.

Acoustic music vacation, Klamath River MandoJam

Photos by William Grant MacDonald

The Klamath River MandoJam!

Gypsy Swing & Other Things.... with special guests Paul Blackwell, Cyd Smith & Lynda Scheben

August 23-26, 2012

Each summer Sandy Bar Ranch hosts The Klamath River Guitar & MandoJam, an opportunity for acoustic musicians of all levels and styles to learn, play and enjoy acoustic music in a beautiful mountain setting and supportive environment. This affordable venue features a mix of daily workshops, jam sessions, demonstrations and fun on the river. Join us with special guests Paul Blackwell and Lynda Scheben of Roma, and guitarist Brad Kauder.

The Spirit of the Event

We provide an informal, non-competitive setting where folks can enjoy good music, good food and good company in a beautiful spot. A lot of learning happens just by swapping tunes, getting shown a new chord or two, and jamming with old and new friends. We keep the setup simple to keep costs down - lodging is in shared cabins, or camping. We will serve one meal a day and participants are on their own for the other two (good opportunity for potlucks with cabin mates and other cabins).

Gypsy Swing

Gypsy Jazz Swing, the music inspired by the rhythmic style of Django Reinhardt's famous Hot Club, has become a central theme of the MandoJam. Our guest instructors and musicians will bring the tunes to life and share insights into the rhythmic and melodic technique of this timeless and exhilarating genre. This is a great opportunity for beginners to find their way into this style by learning new chord forms, progressions and melodies, and for more advanced players to broaden their repertoire and work on their chops. All levels are welcome!!

And Other Things...

In addition to Gypsy Jazz, you?re liable to hear and play anything from Folk to Bluegrass, Old Time, Blues, Country and Originals at the MandoJam. Brad Kauder will be leading slow jam circles for beginning and intermediate level players.

Schedule Brief

We kick off the MandoJam with a potluck barbecue and some jamming on Thursday, 6:30 PM. We serve a large mid day meal and have free time in the afternoon for a siesta, a trip to the river, hiking or playing music.

Registration

Space is limited, so registration is required. To register send either the full amount ($225/person) or a $100 deposit to Sandy Bar Ranch at the address below. Price includes lodging (camping or cabin), lunch, workshops and jam sessions. Feel free to contact us with any questions at mail@sandybar.com

Practice Tunes

We have made it a MandoJam tradition to suggest some practice tunes ahead of time in order to create some common ground amongst participants for jamming and have some specific context for workshops. Since our workshops are largely geared towards the Gypsy Jazz style, these tunes tend to be ones that you're likely to hear at a Gypsy "Djam" circle and are chosen because they illustrate some aspect of this unique genre. The practice tunes for this year's MandoJam are: Autumn Leaves, Bossa Dorado and Swing 39,. To download a tune, right click on it and choose "Save Link as..."

Have a look at these tunes, familiarize yourself with the chord progressions and look for different recordings and most of all just have fun with them. This is not a test, it?s just an opportunity to get us on the same page ahead of time. We know you'll have questions about them - what chord forms to use and how to play the melody and improvise etc., which is exactly what the workshops are for. If you don't know a lick of Gypsy Jazz then don't worry! The introductory workshops start right at the beginning and then build in complexity in order to offer something of value for everyone.

Two of these charts and two of these practice versions are by Robin Nolan, who puts out some of the best Gypsy Jazz instructional material available. You can find his teaching materials at Djangobooks.com and http://www.robinnolanteaches.com/juststartplaying

Autumn Leaves - A well-known jazz standard with lots of classic chord changes, can be played in a variety of rhythms and styles. This audio version is by the Grisman Taylor Jazz Quartet
Autumn Leaves Chart
Autumn Leaves Audio
Bossa Dorado - A lively, Latin bossa written by Gypsy guitarist Dorado Schmitt, here's a version by the Rosenberg Trio as well as a slower practice version by Robin Nolan
Bossa Dorado Chart
Bossa Dorado, Rosenberg Trio
Bossa Dorado, slow - Robin Nolan
Swing 39 - One of the many classic gypsy swing tunes by the legendary Django Reinhardt. Both the chart and the audio track are by Robin Nolan
Swing 39 Chart - Robin Nolan
Swing 39 Audio - Robin Nolan

Klamath River MandoJam

Klamath River MandoJam
Sandy Bar Ranch
PO Box 347
Orleans, CA. 95556
530-627-3379
mail@sandybar.com

Sandy Bar Ranch Riverside Cabins and Organic Gardens on the Klamath River