Tritone Jazz Camp at Bjorklunden

Daily Schedule

• 8:00am: Breakfast (included for campers on meal plan).

• 9:00am: Rhythming  A wake-up call to the essential rhythms of jazz, led by faculty for all campers.

• 9:30 -11:45am: Tools & Techniques for Improvisation in Combos (for instrumentalists); general vocal instruction for singers

• 11:45am -12:55pm: Lunch Break

• 1:00-1:30pm: Purposeful Listening

• 1:30-3:00pm: Big Band for interested instrumentalists (alternatives available for others); general vocal instruction for singers.

• 3:00-4:15pm: "Jammin' with the Faculty” master class

• 4:15-5:15pm: Jazz Theory (Monday & Wednesday); Instrument master class (Tuesday & Thursday)

EVENINGS

• SUNDAY: Meet the Faculty Orientation 

• MONDAY: Faculty Concert, followed by Faculty-Guided Camper Jam Session

• TUESDAY: Multi-level Camper Jam Sessions

• WEDNESDAY: Camper Road Show -- Jam session at local restaurant

• THURSDAY: Camper Big Band Concert and Vocalists 

• FRIDAY: Camper Combos and Vocalists

Tentative 2024 Faculty

Rod Blumenau (piano) never studied music at the college level.  Born with perfect pitch, he began studying piano at around age five with his grandmother, a piano teacher.  He added clarinet at eight and saxophone at eleven.  He enjoyed a 32-year career with Eastman Kodak while continuing to perform music as an avocation, performing in the Rochester, NY area with the likes of Henry Mancini, Clark Terry, Cab Calloway, Mel Torme, Regina Carter, Stefon Harris, Tamir Hendelman, and Eddie Daniels. Now living in Seattle, he has recently become an ASCAP composer and has had original jazz compositions for student bands published nationally by the Neil Kjos music publishing company.  He has recorded several CDs.

Tim Fitzgerald (guitar) is a Chicago-based jazz guitarist, bandleader, educator and author. Named “Wes Montgomery scholar and visionary” by DownBeat Magazine, he is also the recipient of Chicago's 2021 Individual Artist Program Grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency and the National Endowment for the Arts. Tim has played the Chicago Jazz Festival, the Woodstock Jazz Festival, the Gene Harris Jazz Festival, and the Chi-Town Jazz Festival in addition to clubs from New York City's Mezzrow to Alice's in Homer, Alaska. Tim's record "Tim Fitzgerald's Full House" received Editor's Pick and 4.5 stars from DownBeat and rose the top 20 of the national jazz charts in 2023. The record is a love letter to his hero, Wes Montgomery. Tim is also the author of 625 Alive: the Wes Montgomery BBC Performance Transcribed, and "The Ultimate Study of Wes Montgomery's Music" (Just Jazz Guitar magazine). Tim has also written for DownBeat magazine, Just Jazz Guitar magazine, and Chicago Jazz magazine.

John Harmon (piano, combos, theory). John Harmon is a multi-talented performer, composer, arranger, and teacher whose credits include compositions for renowned trumpeter Bobby Shew and Latin singer Flora Purim and who has recorded with the legendary reedman Yusef Lateef. "John Harmon's material...covers an amazing range of textures, colors, tempos and moods," enthused the late jazz critic Leonard Feather, "changing so often that the sound of surprise is never more than seconds away." John has recorded two CDs with Janet Planet: Sweet Thunder (Sea Breeze), and More Beautiful Than Planned (Stellar). His own solo CD, Rite of Passage, was released in 1998.

Greg Jasperse (vocal jazz). A world-renowned composer, arranger, vocalist and pianist, Greg is now the Director of Vocal Jazz at Western Michigan University. His credits include numerous movie soundtracks such as Epic, Oz, the Great and Powerful, The Campaign, Start Trek, and, Star Trek 2 as well as the Red Hot Chili Pepper’s Monarchy Roses and The 2nd Law, the recent release from Muse. Greg is a member of Vertical Voices, Sixth Wave and is the music director for the Santa Fe Desert Chorale’s Voasis. He has subbed with the New York Voices and the Bob Mintzer Big Band. He has also performed with Adele, Jennifer Holiday, Joe Williams, Rosemary Clooney, Dianne Reeves and Bobby McFerrin among others. Greg is a graduate of University of Miami and Western Michigan University. 

Ryan Korb (drums) is an in-demand educator and performer and a student of drum set great Jeff Hamilton and master Afro-Cuban musician Michael Spiro. Ryan has also spent extensive time studying music abroad in India and Cuba. He has performed with Aretha Franklin, Frank Sinatra, Jr., Bill Mays, Russell Malone, Byron Stripling, John Fedchock, Llew Matthews, Tamir Hendelman, Valerie Naranjo (SNL orchestra), and Barry Olsen. He also co-leads the Afro-Cuban drum trio, Africa->West. In addition to drum set, Ryan has performed as percussionist on the touring Broadway productions of Wicked, Spamalot, and others. Ryan has played on numerous recordings and has been seen at many jazz festivals and venues internationally. He is also on faculty at Baldwin Wallace University, Lawrence University, and University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

Pat Mallinger (sax & reeds). A graduate of North Texas State University, Pat is one of Chicago’s busiest sax players, regularly performing with his own quartet, Bird Song Quartet, Bobby Lewis Quintet, and Model Citizens Big Band. He is is lead mentor for the Ravinia Jazz Mentor Program, founded by Ramsey Lewis, and has been with that program since its inception in 1994. Pat has toured with the Charles Earland Band, the Artie Shaw Orchestra, and the Woody Herman Orchestra, and has performed with a virtual Who’s Who of jazz artists. He is co-leader of Sabertooth, which was the Saturday mainstay band at the Green Mill Lounge from 1992 to 2018 and later led the popular Pat Mallinger’s Late Night Jazz Party there. He has recorded and produced six CDs under his own name and performed on a wide range of recordings by other artists.

Janet Planet (vocal jazz). No, that's not her real name, but she's definitely the real thing. Janet's singing has touched the hearts of thousands of fans and critics throughout the world. The late humorist and jazz pianist Steve Allen said "Janet is someone who really knows what singing is all about." Roy Kral (of the jazz duo Jackie & Roy) has called her singing "first rate [with a] high level of professionalism." Jazziz magazine praised her "amazingly powerful voice with seemingly limitless expression." Lawrence University employs her to teach vocal technique. Tritone campers will tell you that Janet's not only a major talent and a hardworking teacher, but a wonderful, fun person to hang with.

Dean Sorenson (trombone) is Associate Professor and Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Minnesota and a prolific and highly sought-after composer, arranger, trombonist, educator, and clinician. He has composed and arranged for the Glenn Miller Orchestra, the Airmen of Note, the United States Air Force Band, and the Minnesota Orchestra. He composes and arranges for jazz ensemble, concert band, and chamber ensembles, and has also written several sacred choral pieces. Dean’s most recent publication, STANDARD OF EXCELLENCE FIRST JAZZ PERFORMANCE, is a collection of jazz charts for elementary bands and jazz bands. Dean received his bachelor’s degree in trombone performance from the University of Minnesota and his master’s degree in jazz arranging and composition from the Eastman School of Music.

Terell Stafford (trumpet), has been hailed as “one of the great players of our time, a fabulous trumpet player” by piano legend McCoy Tyner. Since the mid-1990’s, he has performed with groups such as Benny Golson’s Sextet, McCoy Tyner’s Sextet, Kenny Barron Quintet, Frank Wess Quintet, Jimmy Heath Quintet and Big Band, Jon Faddis Jazz Orchestra, Carnegie Hall Jazz Band and Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Alumni Band. With the Hamilton- Clayton Jazz Orchestra, he performed on Diana Krall’s GRAMMY nominated From this Moment On (2006). He is also a member of the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, which was awarded a GRAMMY in 2009 for Best Large Ensemble, Live at the Village Vanguard. He can be heard on over 130 albums including his own, BrotherLee Love, Celebrating Lee Morgan, which received a 47th Annual NAACP Image Award nomination. His most recent album, Family Feeling, is a BCM&D release. Terell is the Director of Jazz Studies and Chair of Instrumental Studies at Temple University, founder and band leader of the Terell Stafford Quintet, and Managing and Artistic Director of the Jazz Orchestra of Philadelphia (JOP).

Mark Urness (bass) Mark is an associate professor of music at Lawrence University and a versatile bassist and composer. His diverse performance experience encompasses orchestral, chamber, solo, and jazz playing. He was awarded first prize in the International Society of Bassists Jazz Competition. His unaccompanied jazz CD, "Foreground," was released in 2009. Bass World magazine described his playing as “completely in command of the instrument and the tunes, rife with good ideas, melodic instinct, and groove, not to mention killer intonation on the double stops and chords.”  Recent performances include chamber music broadcasts on Wisconsin Public Radio, and jazz performances with Bill Carrothers, Danilo Perez, Peter Erskine, and Joe Locke. Mark holds a Master of Music in double bass performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and a Bachelor of Arts in music from the University of Northern Iowa.