Every year, the camp features an accomplished faculty, all members of the W. C. Handy Jazz All-Stars.
"The camp consists of four days of intensive music study at UNA", said Nancy Gonce, who assisted professional jazz musician Mike Shepherd and former UNA band director Dr. Edd Jones in establishing the camp as an educational extension of the area's annual W. C. Handy Music Festival.
Camp students, along with the accomplished musicians who make up the faculty, perform each year during the W. C. Handy Music Festival, which takes place throughout the Florence-Sheffield-Muscle Shoals area during the last week of July.
The 2006 faculty featured a variety of professional musicians, including Ken Watters (trumpet), Howard Lamb (trombone), Rick Bell (saxophone), Tim Goodwin (bass), Mike Shepherd (drums), Ray Reach (piano – director of Student Jazz Programs at the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame) and Mel Deal (guitar).
The 2007 faculty included Ken Watters (trumpet), Howard Lamb (trombone), Tim Goodwin (bass), Chuck Redd (drums and vibraphone) and Ray Reach (piano – director of Student Jazz Programs at the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame).