Django In June Festival in Northampton, MA

Greetings, Gypsy Jazz fans, I wanted to take a little moment to talk to you about, what I believe, is the very best Gypsy Jazz festival in North America. It’s called Django in June, and it’s held every year in the middle of June in beautiful Northampton, MA. It’s run by a man who is 100% devoted to the music for the sake of the music, without any of the non-sense politics. I’m talking of course, about Liam Neeson… No wait, wrong blog… I’m talking about a man by the name of Andrew Lawrence, who runs a program in Northampton called Community Guitar. What’s special about this Django in June festival, is that the focus is on learning  this style of music. It takes place in the beautiful Smith College Campus; attendees and artists/teachers all stay in the same dorms (though attendees can make arrangements to stay elsewhere). This means that it’s non-stop jamming, and total immersion for people who want to learn this music but who simply don’t have access to qualified teachers. I’ll spare you the details, you can find all the information on the website itself. If you’re new to Gypsy Jazz and are hesitating to sign up because you feel that you’ll slow other participants down; well the lessons cater to players of all levels. Everyone is very welcoming and happy to help newcomers. The only jerk is some guy named Denis Chang, I heard he’s an *sshole.

Classes are offered for the following instruments: guitar (who would’ve thought!), violin, bass, accordion, and even mandolin for those who come from a folk/bluegrass background. All instruments are welcome, and they’ve had vocalists show up in previous years. DC Music School is very proud to sponsor such an event. 2012 is going to be a great year… The Avengers in May, Django in June in June, and the new Spider-Man movie in July! Who could ask for anything more?!

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