June 4, 2008; Monterey, CA; The Monterey Jazz Festival is pleased to announce its two-week Summer Jazz Camp for middle and high school students, taking place at Monterey Peninsula College, June 16 - 27, 2008. This year, 150 students from over 30 schools in Monterey County will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in jazz study and performance with a star-studded line-up of professional musicians and educators. As part of its long-standing commitment to jazz education, the Monterey Jazz Festival has offered a total of $131,750 in subsidies for participating students, making the camp not only educationally rewarding and fun, but financially accessible as well.

The MJF Summer Jazz Camp is an intensive immersion program for young jazz students to learn and develop music skills and knowledge, with classes including big bands, small ensembles, vocal performance, instrumental master classes, and daily workshops on different music subjects. The camp also includes special sessions for students to attend combo rehearsals and theory classes. MJF staff expect total enrollment of 180 young musicians to participate in this valuable music endeavor, keeping classes and ensembles to a small size. The students, ranging in age from twelve to eighteen years old, earn one unit of credit from Monterey Peninsula College at the completion of camp.

Students will have the opportunity to show off their newly-honed skills in recital performances for fans, friends and family with free performances by hand-selected combos on June 25 at the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas. "This year we are offering more performance opportunities at Camp,” Said Dr. Rob Klevan, Education Director of the Monterey Jazz Festival. “In addition to our traditional camp jam session, combo night, and big band/vocal jazz ensemble concerts, we are initiating a vocal solo mic night which will be held at Monterey Live on June 24, the second Tuesday of Camp. This will give every vocalist in the program the chance to sing in a club setting and gain valuable stage experience. I'm looking forward to this and to having Grammy winner Christian McBride with us this year."

The vocal and big band concert will take place on June 26 at the Steinbeck Forum at the Monterey Conference Center. The student jam session will take place at Monterey Live in downtown Monterey on Monday, June 23 from 6 to 9 PM, with an additional vocal solo mic night on Tuesday, June 24, also at Monterey Live.

This year's MJF Summer Jazz Camp will be highlighted by the presence of the Festival’s 2008 Artist-In-Residence, Grammy-winning bassist and composer, Christian McBride. Mr. McBride thrilled audiences at this year's MJF Next Generation Festival in April 2008 with a wholly improvised set with his group, A Christian McBride Situation, and is certain to inspire young musicians with his open and inclusive approach to jazz education. Mr. McBride will impart his wisdom and performance practices to the students during his stay at the Camp, from June 24-26.

In addition to Christian McBride, the camp's roster of instructors features many of the finest jazz educators in the country. Faculty members for 2008 include saxophonists Paul Contos and Virginia Mayhew, trumpeters Sal Cracchiolo, Peck Allmond and Michael Galisatus, trombonist Robynn Amy, drummer Vince Lateano, bassist Scott Steed, guitarist Bruce Forman, pianists Joe Bagg and Eddie Mendenhall, and renowned vocalists Madeline Eastman, Dick Whittington and Kerry Marsh. Committed to training young instructors in the art of teaching, the camp also invites several of the Festival’s talented All-Star High School Big Band alumni to mentor younger students. This year the MJF Summer Jazz Camp welcomes trombonists Mark Stotzer and Davis Giedt, bassist Zach Parkes, drummer Skylar Campbell and guitarist Tim Fischer to its faculty.

Reservations for the Monterey Jazz Festival Summer Jazz Camp can be made by contacting Dr. Rob Klevan at the MJF Office at (831) 373-3366 or rob@montereyjazzfestival.org.