Big Jersey Goes To Italy!

May 30-June 4, 2025, Soave, Italy

Featuring:

Frank Vignola

Sheryl Bailey

Pasquale Grasso

Gary Mazzaroppi

Vinny Raniolo

Eleonora Strino

Ken Smith

A Big Jersey Welcome & Invitation from Frank Vignola

Frank Vignola invites you to Big Jersey Guitar Camp!

We are going back to Soave, Italy for another camp in 2025!

This is a unique European jazz guitar camp experience with Sheryl Bailey, Pasquale Grasso, Gary Mazzaroppi, Vinny Raniolo, Eleonora Strino and Ken Smith (a/k/a Giuseppe Ferrari-Fibonacci). 

Jam sessions, master classes, private performances, and a community concert will take place in the stunning medieval village of Soave, Italy.

The camp itself will run for 4-days, Saturday through Tuesday, with a day to travel both in and out.

Classes and jam sessions will be hosted at nearby village buildings, all within walking distance of the hotel. 

Scrumptious and fresh family-style dinners will be served Friday through Tuesday. We will celebrate our small group of jazz guitar players with a wine-tasting of product from local vineyards. 

Tours of the town’s medieval castle are available

Soave is lovely and picturesque walled medieval town at the base of a castle and nestled among vineyards growing ancient grapes which produce high-quality wine. Its location is approximately 35 minutes from Verona and an hour from Venice.

This destination camp is ideal to enjoy with a non-guitarist companion: you are welcome to bring a guest for a nominal additional fee.

Camp is always a blast, and a high-point of the year! Many of our campers return regularly to continue their musical journey with the friends they have made at camp.

I am thrilled to be bringing the Big Jersey Experience back Italy and I hope to see YOU there!

Space is limited, so please register soon to guarantee your spot!

Big Jersey Jazz Guitar Camp Soave, Italy 2025 Instructors

  • Frank Vignola

    Frank Vignola is one of the most extraordinary guitarists performing before the public today. His stunning virtuosity has made him the guitarist of choice for many of the world’s top musicians, including Ringo Starr, Madonna, Donald Fagen, Lionel Hampton, Tommy Emmanuel, John Lewis, the Boston Pops, the New York Pops, and guitar legend Les Paul, who named Vignola to his “Five Most Admired Guitarists List” for the Wall Street Journal. In 2020, Frank introduced the Big Jersey Guitar Club offering multiple formats for studying guitar with him online including 10-week Learning Clubs™, and Let’s Practice Sessions, plus Song Intensives and Methods.

  • Sheryl Bailey

    Sheryl Bailey has groomed incredible chops and impeccable taste with which she applies them. It's said (by Lee Metcalf, The Villager) that she can "go from zero to blazing in two beats", but she is continually praised for never sacrificing melody and lyricism for technique. "She balances superior technical skills with a strong lyrical sense and swinging touch..." continues Metcalf, and Joe Taylor of Soundstage says "Bailey combines an astonishing command of the fingerboard with a seemingly endless flow of melodic invention."

    Beginning the guitar at age 13, Sheryl eventually attended Berklee College of Music. Her years of dedication and focus won her 3rd place in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Guitar competition in 1995, and she was chosen as a Jazz Ambassador for the U.S. State Department in 2000 for a South American tour. She is now said to be "One of the top players in an emerging generation of jazz guitarists" (John Heidt, Vintage Guitar).  Her own trio, The Sheryl Bailey 3, is a modernized version of the organ trio-"the ultimate organ trio"

    A partial list of others with whom she has performed and recorded with includes Richard Bona, George Garzone, Lincoln Goines, Kim Plainfield, Bill O'Connell, Mike LeDonne, Irene Cara, Lea Delaria, Jack Wilkins, Howard Alden, Shingo Okudaira, Ingrid Jensen, Dwayne Burno, Tommy Campbell, Simon Woolf, Alex Garnett and Ken Peplowski.

    Sheryl is a Professor at Berklee College of Music, and at the Collective in New York. She has been an Artist in Residence at countless other programs, including NYU, Bates College, the Stanford Jazz Workshop, Towson University, the LA Music Academy and GIT. In 2009, Mel Bay published her book Moveable Shapes: Concepts for Re-Harmonizing II-V-I's. She has also developed a complete curriculum in jazz improvisation for interactive cyber study via Truefire's Guitar Sherpa program, The Bebop Dojo. In addition, she has top selling courses available from Mike's Masterclasses, Jazz Guitar Society, JamPlay, and Truefire.

  • Pasquale Grasso

    Called “the best guitar player I’ve heard in maybe my entire life…” by Pat Metheny, Pasquale Grasso, born in Ariano, Irpino, Italy, began playing guitar at a very young age. Grasso’s principle instruction was with Chuck Wayne’s student and jazz guitar innovator, Agostino Di Giorgio. Another extraordinary influence in Grasso’s career has been bebop piano master and world-renowned jazz educator, Barry Harris. In 2008, Pasquale pursued classical guitar studies in the Music Conservatory of Bologna under Professor Walter Zanetti. In 2012, Grasso moved to New York City and quickly made a name for himself in the city’s vibrant jazz scene. Later that year, Pasquale was named a Jazz Ambassador with the US Embassy, going on to tour extensively across Europe, Kuwait, Kazakstan, Cyprus, Lithuania, and Ukraine, among others.

    Despite his young age, Grasso has performed with many leading musicians of the international jazz scene. such as: Barry Harris, Charles Davis, Freddie Redd, Frank Wess, Leroy Wiliams, Ray Drummond, Murray Wall, Steve Grossman,Tardo Hammer, Jimmy Wormworth, John Mosca, Sacha Perry, Ari Roland, Luigi Grasso, Chris Byars, Zaid Nasser, Bucky Pizzarelli, China Moses, Harry Allen Quartet, Grant Stewart, Stepko Gut, Nicolas Dary, Dado Moroni, Agostino di Giorgio, Michel Pastre Big Band, Gianni Basso Big Band, Joe Cohn, Oscar Zenari, Luca Pisani and others.

  • Gary Mazzaroppi

    Bassist Gary Mazzaroppi is a veteran virtuoso who enjoyed a long-running association with the late great guitar innovator and raconteur Les Paul. Mazzaroppi has accompanied jazz giants from across the spectrum, ranging from vintage greats Lionel Hampton and Clark Terry, Marian McPartland, Red Norvo & Stan Getz, to fusionists Bela Fleck and Chuck Mangione, and, even Willie Nelson, in his songbook excursions. In addition to his busy playing career, Gary is also in the faculty of the Brookdale Community College School of Music, in Lincroft, NJ

  • Vinny Raniolo

    As a touring guitar musician, performer, and educator, Vinny Raniolo is best known for his accompanying skills and is a very high demand rhythm guitarist. His dynamic playing has brought him to 14 countries on three continents – and still growing – having performed in some of the world’s most illustrious venues, including the Sydney Opera House in Australia, The Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, New York’s Lincoln Center and the world’s oldest indoor concert hall, Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, Italy.

    While keeping a busy touring schedule in a variety of musical settings, Vinny has also become a familiar figure on Public Television. Featured previously on three popular shows, including the heavily programmed Tommy Emmanuel and Friends, in Frank Vignola’s Four Generations of Guitar as the youngest generation in the lineage of jazz guitarists with veteran Bucky Pizzarelli and in the Music Gone Public series.

    Vinny’s recording credits include soundtracks for HBO’s Boardwalk Empire and Woody Allen’s film Café Society, as well as numerous recordings as a featured artist on recordings by many other artists. Look for Vinny’s acclaimed solo release: Air Guitar.

  • Ken Smith

    Ken Smith was born in Florida, USA and grew up in New Jersey and Abu Dhabi. Ken’s musical education includes a B.M. in Performance from Arizona State University. While living in Arizona, Ken worked as a soloist and ensemble member, playing everything from solo classical guitar to theater productions. Ken also began teaching the guitar at this time, creating a unique approach to applying the language of jazz to the fretboard. Since moving to New York City in 1997, Ken has performed and toured in the US, Asia and Europe, as a side man and leader. Ken is a member of Frank Vignola’s Birdland Guitar Band. Ken is currently developing a suite of educational products that document his unique approach to teaching jazz guitar.

  • Eleonora Strino

    Eleonora Strino is recognized by critics as one of the most promising young talents in the international jazz scene.

    In May 2023, her first album as a leader ‘I Got Strings’ was released, recorded live in Berlin with two jazz legends: Greg Cohen on double bass and Joey Baron on drums. She presented the album at the Blue Note in Milan, leading a trio with Jason Brown and Daryl Hall.

    Eleonora has numerous collaborations with some of the best jazz musicians and maintains an active international concert schedule. She has toured and conducted masterclasses in Brazil, the Canary Islands, North America, Europe, and all Europe.

    She is a permanent member of Dado Moroni’s quartet, produced by Auditorium Rai; Emanuele Cisi’s quartet with actor Filippo Timi, produced by Warner Bros; Greg Cohen’s trio; and the group “The Great Guitarist” alongside Ulf Wakenius and Martin Taylor. (The group was founded in ’73 by Barney Kessel, Charlie Byrd, and Herb Ellis, and she is the first woman to be part of it).

    In addition to her performing career, she is actively involved in teaching. She has conducted workshops and seminars at the Conservatory of San Salvador in Brazil, Hemu (Conservatory of Lausanne) in Switzerland, Conservatoire Pierre Cochereau in Nice, France, the Conservatory of Tirana in Albania, and the Taller de Músics Conservatory in Barcelona.

    Currently, she serves as a jazz guitar Professor at the Conservatory of Cosenza.

    In 2023, her educational book ‘Bebop Scales for Jazz Guitar’ was released worldwide.

Like any language, Music is alive…

…in conversations between and among the people who “speak the language”.  Jazz music in particular, with its emphasis on interplay, really is a kind is a language and it is fostered & developed in musical conversations. So we do a lot of playing at camp: much less talking about music and much more doing music.

And, just as there is accelerated learning when you are immersed in a foreign language and speak it rather than your native languages, we use the immersion theory at camp to aim to keep everyone busy and immersed in making music.

Camp participants will be part of rotating, instructor-led small ensembles and will do a deep dive into the selected music through intensive, structured jamming and in nightly performances with your fellow campers and instructors. Master classes give an instructor a chance to explore a certain topic or theme in a more traditional manner in addition to the ensemble classes.

As always, the Big Jersey Guitar Camp is proud to create a safe and supportive environment where beginners are welcome, yet intermediate to advanced students will be stretched.

Big Jersey Soave, Italy Jazz Guitar Camp 2025 Location + Contact info

Hotel Roxy Plaza, Soave, Italy

Via S. Matteo, 4, 37038 Soave VR, Italy

Tel: +39 045 619 0660

Web: www.hotelroxyplaza.it/en/

Soave is 23 km (14 miles) east of Verona, just off the A4 autostrada (expressway) you can see the castle from the autostrada). It's about 100 km (60 miles) west of Venice in the Verona province of Italy’s Veneto region. 

 

Getting Ready for Camp!

All campers will be provided access to camp materials via download so you can you can familiarize yourself with the songs prior to camp. The materials include song lesson videos (chords & melody) so everyone can become familiar with the song repertoire prior to arriving. 

Additionally, Frank will host two 1-hour "Live Zoom Sessions" with all campers where we will play through the songs.  He is very excited about these additions to the camp and the combination of virtual and in-person learning. 


 Big Jersey Soave, Italy Jazz Guitar Camp 2025

Tuition & Fees

Camp Fee

$3150, due upon registration.

This includes:

  • 5-night stay for one at the Hotel Roxy Plaza (5/30-6/3)

  • 4-days of jazz guitar camp (5/31-6/3)

  • All performances 

  • Continental breakfast (5/31-6/4)

  • Family-style Dinner at local restaurants (5/30-6/3)

  • Wine-tasting event (TBD)

  • Camp t-shirt

Camp fee DOES NOT INCLUDE:

  • Airfare

  • Ground transportation to and from airport/hotel

  • lunch, Snacks, alcohol (other than the scheduled group wine-tasting);

Hotel:

  • Hotel Roxy Plaza, Via S. Matteo, 4, 37038 Soave VR, Italy, Tel. +39 045 619 0660, (website)

  • Campers check-in on May 30 (Friday) and depart on June 4 (Wednesday)

  • 5 night stay for one at the Hotel Roxy Plaza is included in the camp fee

  • Campers may (and are encouraged to) bring a guest to share their hotel room for an additional fee of $500 (this includes breakfast/dinner for 5 days, the wine-tasting event & concert admission).

Meals

  • A continental breakfast is included with your room (Saturday, May 31 through Wednesday, June 4).

  • Delicious, fresh family-style dinners will be served nightly (Friday, May 30 through Tuesday, June 3).

  • Lunch, as well other snacks, alcohol, room service, incidentals, etc. are the responsibility of each camper.

Check In

Campers check-in Friday, May 30, 2025 at the Hotel Roxy Plaza, Via S. Matteo, 4, 37038 Soave VR, Italy, Tel. +39 045 619 0660, (website). Campers check out on Wednesday, June 4.

Welcome Package

Upon camp check-in, all campers will be provided a schedule and an exclusive Big Jersey Guitar Camp t-shirt.

Getting Prepared for Camp

All campers will be provided access to camp materials via download so you can you can familiarize yourself with the songs prior to camp. The materials include song lesson videos (chords & melody) so everyone can become familiar with the song repertoire prior to arriving. 

Frank will also host two 1-hour "Live" Jam Sessions via Zoom prior to camp where everyone can meet and jam on the songs in each session. (Dates/Times TBA).