Janice Borla Holds 16th Jazz Vocal Camp

Listen up, all of you Vaughan and Fitzgerald wannabes: the sixteenth edition of Janice Borla’s annual Vocal Jazz Camp is coming to North Central College in Naperville, Ill. this July. It’s an intensive, weeklong course in jazz singing that draws students from all over the world, some of them high school students to adults who already sing on a professional level-anyone, even non-singers, can reap rewards from Borla’s curriculum.

Borla (pictured), a severely underrated talent in vocal jazz, will bring fellow vocalists Madeline Eastman and Judy Niemack to Naperville this year as members of the Vocal Jazz Camp staff. The three of them will guide camp attendees through activities in solo vocal performance and improvisation, and give lessons in vocal jazz history and music theory as well. Because a lot of this learning will be done in a hands-on environment (that is, attendees will be asked to do some singing), the Vocal Jazz Camp enlists a rhythm section that this year features pianist Dan Hearle, bassist Bob Bowman, drummer Jack Mouse and guitarist Jeanfrancois Prins.

The camp will take place July 25-30 and concludes with a concert in which all camp attendees will perform. Tuition for the camp is $500. On-campus housing and meals are available for an additional $250. For more information about the camp and how to attend, visit www.janiceborlavocaljazzcamp.org.

Originally Published March 30, 2004