Educator Fernando Jones has taught young musicians in both virtual and in-person settings. (Photo: Courtesy Fernando Jones)
Unlike jazz camps, camps that focus on the blues are a rarity. In 2010, when Fernando Jones decided to start one at Columbia College Chicago where he is on faculty the veteran bluesman and educator wasn’t quite sure it would work. It did, and since then Jones’ blues camps have become an annual rite of summer. By 2019, the camps had welcomed hundreds of kids at sites in eight states, as well as the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan and Cuba. Last year’s program was shaping up as a major event, as well, until the pandemic hit in March.