BAAMS Holding its 7th Summer Jazz Day Camp

Print Story | Email Story

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. —  Each summer, a group of master musicians assembles in North Adams at The Berkshires' Academy for Advanced Musical Studies (BAAMS) to offer the region's youth ages 12 to 18 a full week of learning.

This year, Berkshire County musicians ages 12-18 will have the chance to study and play with some of the world’s finest musicians, including NBC's "Saturday Night Live" Band saxophonist and Juilliard faculty member, Ron Blake, guitar master Rodney Jones, along with two master drummer percussionists, Mino Cinelu and Kenwood Dennard.

Both drummers are former members of the bands of Sting, Jaco Pastorious, Herbie Hancock, and Wayne Shorter.

This year's camp takes place from July 14 through the 18.

The 7th Berkshires' Summer Jazz Band Day Camp takes place each summer, with five days of learning everything from music theory, ear training, how to compose, how to improvise, how to honor one's musical voice, and work with others to create performances of original work. Students come from around Berkshire County, with the highest concentration of attendees from the Northern Berkshires, but also from as far away as Lee, Stockbridge, Boston and Cambridge, New York City, and central Vermont.

"Next week’s camp is a huge opportunity for area young musicians and will help inspire and even transform their current playing levels. If you are 12-18 and play the saxophone or woodwinds, trumpet, guitar, or the drums, this is the place to be this summer," said Richard Boulger, Founder and Executive Director. He added, "You don’t have to have a lot of experience playing, or you can be an advanced player — with any level, our faculty will help each of our students have success in their musical growth and have fun doing it!"

Students will be playing a few select jazz standards on which they will learn how to improvise, as well as compose their own original music.

There are still a few slots left for selected instruments, and scholarships are being offered for qualifying families. Click here to register for Jazz Camp: berkshiresacademyams.org/berkshires-summer-jazz-day-camp 

During the week, with all musicians in town at one time, BAAMS is offering a once-a-year opportunity for music lovers to hear their BAAMS LEGACY BAND perform live on Wednesday, July 16, at Studio 9 at the Porches' Inn, North Adams. Some students will be asked to sit in with the band. Tickets are available via the venue's website at this link: https://studio9porches.com/performance/studio-9-presents-baams-faculty-concert/

This show, with a theme of HOMECOMING, is being given as a fundraiser in support of the week-long music camp.

There will be another performance at the  Adams Theater, 27 Park St., Adams, MA, on Friday, July 18, starting at 7:00 PM. The show runs from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM and features the BAAMS LEGACY BAND immediately following the student performance for family and friends at 5:30 PM. This event caps off the week, held in the same space where the band performed for BAAMS' Third Anniversary in May 2023.

Tickets are available here:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/baams-legacy-band-in-concert-tickets-1468055155489?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl

BAAMS has recently marked its Five-Year Anniversary becoming incorporated as a nonprofit music academy and cultural institution. It was founded by North Adams native, trumpeter and composer, educator, Richard Boulger.
BAAMS is located in Heritage Park, Building 6, North Adams, Mass.
 
BAAMS faculty also offer after-school lessons, weekend ensemble classes, and the faculty also bring their clinics into the region's schools made possible by grants from the Mass Cultural Council and donations.
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Main & Mill: A Vibrant New Restaurant on Main Street

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — You can now enjoy another eatery on Main Street by well-known restaurant siblings Colleen and Sean Taylor.

Their restaurant Main & Mill opened for the first time Tuesday, bringing their vision of creating something vibrant and new to downtown North Adams.

"We have created Main & Mill to be part of our day. It's very seasonal ingredients, thoughtful cooking, beauty, beautiful presentation and dishes. And we really wanted to be part of the community, the downtown area, and start a vibrant area on this end, which has been shuttered for a while," said Colleen.

The building is owned by Ginko on Main Street LLC, which has granted 20 years exclusive possession of the property to Latent Builds as the developer. Jack and Suzy Wadsworth, behind Ginko, are development partners with Karla Rothstein and Salvatore Perry of Latent.

The bank closed in early 2021 and was purchased by Ginko late that year. Plans for the property unveiled three years ago envisioned a restaurant, retail, a park and rooftop bar. 

Colleen saw potential and said she initially wanted the building when it first went up for sale. Being good friends with Rothstein and Perry, she helped them design the kitchen and the bar before learning in March that she could lease it as a restaurant space, something she told them would be a great idea.

She said one of the most important things about the restaurant was the collaboration between Rothstein, Perry, and the Wadsworths, who put a lot of time and energy into the building.

"If Sean and I had done it, we would not be able to do what the collaboration supported. The collaboration of the three of us being able to really have that kind of money to put in down here. The design that the architecture firm that Carla and Sal own is stunning," she said. "The time and effort, everyone came together to do this in a really trusting manner."

The two wanted the restaurant to be an all-day venture, so people could eat at any point throughout the day, all week long.

"We wanted it to be open for coffee and socialization in the morning where people can meet, have their cup of coffee, have a quiche, a vegetarian quiche, or croissant or yogurt. Something intentional with their coffee," she said. "Then move into a lunchtime for the downtown business or anybody, and then go into supper, dinner, with drinks later into the evening. So have it really be open all day long, so that there wasn't a void on any particular day."

They also wanted to do something different than the other restaurants they owned.

"We didn't want to mimic any other restaurant in town. We wanted to bring something that was inspiring, something that had some familiar things that people would see, and other things that we would bring to them for them to experience," she said.

As a woman business owner, Colleen said she wanted to bring a female chef into the kitchen. 

Colleen brought on Chef Anna DeRose, who she said puts twists on a lot of her dishes.

"So we have a creme brulee, but our creme brulee is topped with marshmallow," she said. "Our creme brulee is like almost two desserts in one. It's a s'mores creme brulee. So you could have a s'mores, and you could have a creme brulee - but when you put both of them together, fireworks go off."

View Full Story

More North Adams Stories