Aspiring jazz students gathered

KENT — The 2011 Jazz Camp of the Litchfield Jazz Festival featured a faculty of more than 34 professional musicians and music educators plus guest artists such as renowned saxophonist Jimmy Heath (see story Page A1). More than 400 students came to the Kent School campus to take part this year. Some students come for the entire four-week program, while others come for one, two or three weeks. The program ends Aug. 5, coinciding with the festival, which is Aug. 4 to 7.This is the 15th year of Jazz Camp.Robin Baytas, an 18-year-old jazz drumming student from Montclair, N.J., is studying in Boston at the New England Conservatory for Music. He said he hopes to have a career both performing and teaching. “I’ve been studying music for eight years but did not begin with jazz. One of my teachers turned me on to the recordings of jazz drummer Roy Haines and that experience changed my life getting me into jazz.”This is his sixth year at the camp. Nearby, in the auditorium, American jazz legend and pianist Julian Clifford Mance Jr., 82, (known in the music world as Junior Mance) was onstage teaching a class of eight students.Camp Director and Music Director Don Braden is an internationally known tenor saxophonist. When asked why he has been coming to camp for 14 years, he said, “Vita [Vita West Muir, executive director of the camp and the festival] and I built the camp from the ground up. It has been a real collaboration between us. Jazz education is important and I want to keep seeing the camp grow.” Braden performs and teaches all over the world.

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