“JAZZ EN LA JUNGLA”
MUSIC WORKSHOP & RETREAT IN COSTA RICA
Hosted by Cyrille Aimée & Friends
Tuesday, January 21st — Saturday, January 25th, 2025
WHAT:
For the first time ever, I am teaching and hosting a retreat/workshop at my home, La Tucanera, in the jungle of Costa Rica — and you’re invited!
A retreat/workshop for adult musicians (18 and over) of all levels interested in deepening their knowledge, love and practice of jazz music.
Whether you sing or play an instrument, are an amateur or a professional, come play for a week in a non-threatening environment, supported by a faculty of caring, professional jazz musicians and educators — surrounded by people just like you.
Learn to listen, learn to improvise, learn to play with a band and connect with each other amongst so many other things…
Dive deep into song writing and how to find your own voice.
WHERE:
The number one teacher of the week: Mother Nature
Let yourself feel inspired by the magical jungle of Tacotal, in the hills of San Mateo, Costa Rica.
Feel the creative juices flowing as you bathe into the Río Machuca, and finally let yourself be guided by the faculty during the daily classes which take place in La Tucanera (@latucaneracr), a beautiful off the grid house designed by Cyrille Aimée herself!
WHY:
I started coming to Tacotal about 10 years ago and completely fell in love with the land and especially the river.
I realized it would always take a few days for the noise from the city to die down in my head and the silence to settle, and then the music that’s all around us to come to me.
I started writing many songs while staying there. This jungle inspired a whole album of original music which just got nominated for a Grammy. I want to share this experience with my fellow musician friends. I want to help musicians connect with nature. Let’s listen to the songs it gifts us!
WHEN:
Monday, Jan. 20, 2025 (arrival date)
through
Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025 (departure date)
HOW:
learn to listen to music and to nature
rhythm, move your body
voice activation
ear training
band leading
harmony, the blues
improvising
repertoire
songwriting, composition
looping
music philosophy
final concert
jams
and a lot of free time to soak in the beautiful nature…
Sample schedule subject to change
All classes predominantly in English
with possibility of translation to Spanish by Cyrille
WHO: THE FACULTY
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Cyrille Aimée grew up in a multilingual household full of music where dancing was an everyday activity, soundtracked by the Afro-Caribbean sounds of her mother’s native Dominican Republic. The family home was in Samois-sur-Seine, the location of the Django Reinhardt Festival, and the teenage Cyrille would climb out of her bedroom window at night to mingle with the players, igniting a passion for jazz.
Moving to New York City, her talents quickly gained her a reputation among her peers as a matchless interpreter of song. She performed and recorded with Roy Hargrove and stole the show in front of the notoriously hard-to-please crowd at the Harlem Apollo. Steven Sondheim invited her to star in a tribute at New York’s City Centre, backed by Wynton Marsalis. Her 2019 album Move On featured versions of Sondheim’s songs which received praise from Sondheim himself, and her version of “Marry Me a Little” was nominated for a 2019 Grammy Award.
At the height of her New York success, new horizons beckoned. Visiting New Orleans, she fell in love with the energy and diversity of the city and made it her home. Linking back to New York to connect up all the dots, she teamed up with producer/multi-instrumentalist Jake Sherman, and together they have created her latest album, A Fleur de Peau, which has just been nominated for a Grammy. Combining the depth and sophistication of jazz, the immediacy of pop, the irrepressible dance rhythms of the Caribbean, this record is more intimate and more accessible than anything Cyrille has done before.
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Mathis Picard, born May 30th, 1995, is a French-Malagasy pianist, composer, producer, and bandleader who currently resides in New York City. A student of both Jazz & Classical music from an early age, Mathis creates a his own musical style that is influenced by his multi-national background. Mathis, who began playing the piano at the age of 3, was immediately passionate about music's healing quality and now focuses on sharing that passion globally. Mathis currently leads a solo project, a trio project and his orchestra, "The Sound Orchestra". Mathis has had the honor of working with artists such as Ron Carter, Lillias White, Wynton Marsalis, Christian McBride, Cyrille Aimee, Lee Ritenour, Daniel J Watts, Herlin Riley, DJ Kindness, Braxton Cook, Veronica Swift, Etienne Charles and more.
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Wayne Tucker is a trumpeter, composer, arranger, violinist, vocalist, actor and model based in New York City. He has released 5 albums under his name and performs regularly with his band, The Bad Mothas in New York City.
Wayne has toured and recorded with a diverse array of notables such as jazz musicians Kurt Elling, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Cyrille Aimée; pop acts Taylor Swift, David Crosby, Elvis Costello; r&b singers Ne-Yo and Gabriel Garzon-Montano; hip hop artists Jidenna and Ryan Leslie; and with the rock band Brass Against.
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Dr. Carlomagno Araya was born in San José, Costa Rica (1969). At a very young age, he began formal musical training in classical percussion at "Conservatorio de Castella," starting his professional career as a drummer at eighteen.
Carlomagno attended "The Berklee College of Music Summer Program" for two consecutive years (1990-1991), and soon after, he made Miami his next home. There, he was awarded several full scholarships to study music at the prestigious "Frost School of Music" at the University of Miami, where he earned his B.A. (2001), M.A. (2008) and D.M.A. (2022) in Jazz Studies, all these while
Carlomagno is recognized for his versatility as a player and musician. As a producer, session, and touring musician, he has worked on recording projects and live performances of the most diverse nature. This is reflected in the extensive list of great artists he has worked with, which includes names such as Rubén Blades, Ilan Chester, Engelbert Humperdinck, Claudia Acuña, Tania Libertad, Alejandra Guzmán, Néstor Torres, Paquito D` Rivera, Víctor Mendoza, Roberto Perera, Willy Chirino, Cachao, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Daniella Mercury, Boca Livre, Alejandro Lerner, Armando Manzanero, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Dudu Fisher, Toquiño, Federico Britos, Bebu Silvetti, Lokua Kanza, Yasmil Marrufo, Francisco Céspedes, Braulio, Richard Bona, Felix Pastorius, Ernie Watts, Randy Brecker, Ed Calle, Eddie Gómez, Boston Brass, Bob Mintzer, Hendrik Meurkens, León Gieco, Gilberto Santa Rosa, José Luis Rodríguez "El puma" and many others. Carlomagno's work can be heard on albums that have won Grammy, multiple Latin Grammy awards, and several Grammy nominations.
Carlo is currently the conductor of the Award Winning "CCCN Jazz Orchestra" of the "Centro Cultural Costarricense Norteamericano." His conducting work led to this ensemble winning first place at the prestigious "Next Generation Jazz Competition 2019" in the "College Division Big Band Category" and placed the band as the first international group to accomplish this in the 49 years of the competition's existence.
In 2019 Carlomagno was recognized by Forbes Magazine as one of the 25 most creative personalities within the Central American region. In the same year, the government of Costa Rica awarded him the "Premio Nacional de Música Carlos Enrique Vargas en Dirección Musical," the most prestigious award given to an artist in his native country.
He has made an essential pedagogical contribution as a guest artist and clinician, sharing his musical knowledge and philosophies with music students in the United States, Mexico, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Las Vegas, and Costa Rica. In addition to establish his family in Costa Rica and keeping a busy schedule as a performer, recording engineer and producer, Carlomagno is currently a professor at the "Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica" where he contributes to developing jazz education in his homeland.
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Tom Larsen is a guitarist, vocalist, bandleader, audio engineer, and educator residing in Brooklyn, NY. After growing up in West Hartford, CT he attended SUNY Purchase Jazz Studies program where he studied with such greats as Jon Faddis, John Abercrombie, Todd Coolman and Pete Malinverni. After graduating in 2009, Tom moved to NYC to begin his music career. In 2011, he founded his band People vs Larsen, and began a six year residency at the McKittrick Hotel, home of Sleep no More. The band has gone on to record two full length albums. Tom has performed all over the world, and continues to perform in NYC regularly to this day, including his solo residency at Collective Retreats on Governor’s Island.
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María Cardona Vaselli is a Costa Rican singer-songwriter and voice activator. She is deeply connected to the magic of breath, vibration, sound, and song. Through her intuitive guidance, she creates a safe container for us to delve into the depths of our inner selves.
María has a profound ability to sense, which allows her to tap into the resonance of the space and our beings, feel what resonates, and navigate through it with her voice and instruments to harmonize with our hearts. She focuses on connecting individuals to the unique power of their voice, which she believes is an instrument of purification and organically personalized medicine.
María performs live, orchestrates sound journeys, and offers voice activations for individuals or groups.
“You don't have to be a singer in order to express your sound. In the sessions I offer, we create the space to flow with our gift, our voice, our innate sound. We get aquatinted with our voice in the purest and most organic way…living firsthand what it really means to breathe, vibrate, sound and the magic that flourishes when we surrender to the act. We go into a trance as we recognize our instrument… And from there, through the beauty of our color, life manifests.
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Roseann Baker is a San Francisco-based dance artist, choreographer and embodied movement practitioner. She is a certified trainer in the GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM® and an apprentice practitioner of the Ilan Lev Method. She brings extensive anatomical, energetic and somatic knowledge to her classes, treatments and movement research. She believes in the power of movement as a form of self-healing that transcends. ‘As we breathe and flow through movement, you release stagnant energy that creates space for vitality to return. You align with the natural rhythms of the universe, reminding yourself that you are part of something vast and interconnected. Each breath and gesture becomes a moment of grounding, a reminder that healing is not just a personal journey, but a universal one.’
ACCOMODATIONS
The closest town is San Mateo, Alajuela, but you will need a 4x4 car to get to class every day.
If you prefer to walk, please get in contact with one of these two camps:
MachuCampo : @machucampo
Bradley Farmer Whatsapp +506 8450 8444
Finca Vida Verde @fincavidaverdecr
Matthew Human Whatsapp +506 6253 6248
TRANSPORTATION
Get your flight to San Jose, COSTA RICA (not California! as the mistake has been made by the best of us, including me!)
As we get closer to the date and collect all the flight info from you we will schedule a shuttle from the airport.
(please DM @LaTucaneraCR to give your flight info)
If you would like to book your own taxi please contact Nestor Whatsapp +506 8621 0990
