I have followed and featured Joan Chamorro and Barcelona’s Sant Andreu Jazz Band for several years. Avidly! Because Joan takes youngsters with an inclination for music under his wing and infuses into them a love for music.

Joan present a masterclass at Chateauneuf du Foau, 2016

In August this year, Barcelona suffered a soul destroying terrorist attack. My immediate reaction was to post on Jazz&Jazz:

“I am immensely privileged to be associated with Joan Chamorro and his brilliant Barcelona based Sant Andreu Jazz Band’s young musicians and to have featured them on Jazz&Jazz since 2013. So in Spain’s dire hour of need, what better way is there for me to pay tribute to the people and neighbourhood of Barcelona than to feature here his young musicians and their massive contribution of joy and music to Barcelona, Spain and the entire world.”

“Barcelona, these are your musicians and this is for you!”

“Children Should See Music As Fun”

Now I want to go further in featuring Joan and his young proteges. Because he holds secrets about teaching youngsters music from an early age. How to motivate and encourage them and before teaching them how to play, teaching them to love the music. You just have to watch him to explore his inspirational methods, experience his dedication, be gripped by his enthusiam, mannerisms, even ideocyncracies, in coaching promising jazz musicians aged 8 to 18, enabling them to fulfil their potentials. My wife and I have had the opportunity to meet and talk to Joan on several occasions. I remember him telling us that, initially, it is essential for youngsters to demonstrate a genuine love for music: “You need to make music appeal to children; they should see it as fun.”

En Plein Air – Chateauneuf du Foau

Then, if it is their wish, they can apply to become Saint Andreu pupils where he will be their teacher and mentor.

“The Sant Andreu Jazz Band Project is driven by a work ethos that leads its members, children and young people aged between seven and twenty, to play out of need, out of the desire to feel good and convey this to others.”

Jazz&Jazz and Sant Andreu Jazz Band: Masterclasses for Success

Ongoing involvement with Joan and The Sant Andreu Jazz Band has been more limited than I would have liked due to financial and travel constraints, but my earlier posts and YouTubes encapsulate their immense success and potential impact on the future of jazz. Simpy type Sant Andreu or Andrea Motis into SEARCH JAZZ & JAZZ in the column on the right to call up a full list of relevant posts, many of them including Jazz&Jazz YouTubes featuring the young musicians.

Or delve into my YouTube Channels (1) Sant Andreu Jazz Band and (2) Andrea Motis

A Selection of My Favourite Sant Andreu YouTubes

To get you totally involved, here is a selection of my Sant Andreu YouTubes demonstrating their journey to success under the hands-on tutalage of Joan Chammorro.

Masterclass Performances

An inspiring feature of Fest Jazz 2016 was Joan’s Masterclass demonstrating his hands on teaching skills. I filmed these YouTubes at this session.

The results – confident young talent on the big stage:

*****

Filming at Rehearsals

From front of stage I could never have captured the magical, interactive connectivity between Joan and his talented youngsters displayed in these three clips which he permitted me to film from the wings at Fest Jazz, Chateauneuf du Foau, 2016. They demonstrate his hands on teaching and magical ability to instil into the youngsters a feel and love for the music – the essential starting point to playing jazz and any kind of music.

Starring at The 2016 Fest Jazz Launch Ceremony

Next, two short clips depicting not just the talent but the condifidence of Joan’s young protoges, demonstrated here by an ensemble of his young pupils and by his rising star Rita Payes entertaining the packed crowds at the opening ceremony of Fest Jazz 2016 in
Châteauneuf-du-Faou’s Town Square.

Flashbacks to 2014

First, my movie of Saint Andreu star student Eva Fernandez at Fest Jazz 2014 performing “I Remember Clifford” with Joan on bass and Andrea Motis on trumpet. Then a series of movies featuring The Saint Andreu youngsters en plein air in one of Châteauneuf-du-Faou’s picturesque squares.