Jacob AbouAyash
Geries & Angela AbouAyash
Joey AbouAyash
JJ Music is about giving back to our community by providing an environment that fosters the love of music. We want the kids in our community to experience what it feels like to work together as a team and be able to stand on stage and deliver an outstanding performance.
We started JJ Music because we felt that our community was in need of a different type of music school. Our school’s main focus is bringing kids together to perform as a band. The bands are teamed up based on the student’s age and skill level.
Currently, our main focus is our summer camps. We also offer performances throughout the year at various schools and venues for the kids who enroll in our summer camps.
Introducing Our Team
Carlos Kampff
Music Director, Guitar & Bass Instructor
Carlos was introduced to music at the tender age of four while taking lessons on the violin. Switching to guitar in his early teens, Carlos began to study twice a week with Maestro Ludi Puperi, from whom he received instruction in jazz & rock guitar and music theory. His teacher soon recruited Carlos to start a GB Beatles cover band. With this band Carlos had the opportunity to play professional gigs throughout high school.
After moving to Boston and commencing his undergraduate studies at the Berklee College of Music, Carlos had the privilege of studying with Garrison Fewell, world-renowned jazz guitarist John Thomas, and jazz theorist, arranger and cunductor Danial Ian Smith. Since graduating in 2004 Carlos has been playing in many projects from rock operas, to choir, to trip hop, and Brazilian jazz-fusion bands. In 2007 Carlos joined the band Incus on their national tour, the recording of their album fire and bone and the filming of the music video dancer through time.
In 2008 Carlos moved to California and has been performing and recording with Sarah Judge, the group Fantastiche and with trio Soulard a gypsy jazz trio. In addition to all these performance experiences, Carlos has been teaching in various settings. These include teaching music in elementary schools, directing junior jazz bands, teaching recording, ensemble and music production classes at the MSSA summer camp for four summers and of course teaching private lessons. He is excited to offer you a well-rounded learning experience. You will learn musicianship skills that will prepare you for performance, composition. What is more, you will learn the art of playing music.
Jimi Marks
Piano/Keyboard & Drum Instructor
Jimi Marks graduated from UC Berkeley in 2010 with a BA in Music and Cognitive Science. Currently he plays drums and keyboards in a variety of projects whose styles range from swing to surf rock to ska. He also continues to pursue an independent study of the piano, learning classical and jazz pieces as well as theory. Always open to exploring new musical styles, Jimi encourages students to learn about the music they already love to listen to. By doing this, he aims to foster good practicing habits while at the same time teach students to get as much joy from their instrument as possible.
Camden Doolittle
Vocal Coach
Camden Doolittle is the professional lead singer of a band called The Shillz. She regularly plays in front of audiences all over the Bay Area and has also performed nationally. You may have seen Camden perform at many hotspots in your very own town of Danville/Blackhawk. Camden has been singing professionally for over 15 years, in everything from lead roles in musical theatre productions to singing lead for a professional guitarist who's played with Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Credence Clearwater and Rod Stewart.
In addition to leading a band and providing private singing lessons, Camden also heads up the vocal training at JJ Music Camps, where kids enjoy hands-on experience singing in a rock band.
Aside from Camden’s passion for singing, she adores working with children of all ages, and also has a special place in her heart for working with children with special needs.
It's truly been a dream come true for Camden to be able to marry her love for singing with her love for kids.
Craig Miller
Drum Instructor
The first drum I was ever exposed to was my mother's heartbeat. That is where I truly developed my sense of rhythm. Drumming has always been a huge part of my life, and in the more recent years, I decided to spend time at the source of so much music that serves as medicine throughout the world. I spent two years in Colombia studying the drum set along with traditional music both from the Pacific and the Atlantic coasts. This trip lead to the creation of a group called Antioquia, with whom I spent years touring around the country.
Later on, I went to study in both Ghana and Guinea, West Africa. In the last few years, I have stayed more local, playing with several different groups. But my focus has really honed in on teaching and facilitating. Helping people learn how to communicate and heal through sound has become a very powerful source of joy in my life.
Roger Kim
Guitar Instructor
Roger Kim is a jazz guitarist and composer who currently performs and teaches all over the bay area in a variety of musical projects. He leads an improvising chamber music ensemble called the Elliott Smith hour, dedicated to interpreting the music of Elliott Smith, Brahms, and everything in between.
Roger is a graduate from the Music Department at UC Berkeley, where he studied under Myra Melford and Brain Pardo. In teaching, he hopes music can be a way to show the value of hard work and perseverance to his students, just as it was for him.
