Hey, Julie:

These are only my opinions... not to be mistaken for the "truth." In answer to your questions, yes, you will bring your folk tradition to jazz singing and it will give you a different style than those who come to the course already steeped in a jazz tradition. Not only will your folk tradtion influence the way that you try to sing jazz, the way that you try to sing jazz will most likely influence the way that you sing folk.

Sometimes in our purest fantasies, we envision traditional singers as hermetically sealed in a very insular environment. That's mostly our delusion, not reality. At least since the advent of radio and recordings, almost everyone has been influenced by other traditions. And many, if not most singer's styles subtly evolve over the years. I think it would almost take a conscious effort for our singing style not to change, through time.

Change happens.

And I'm personally glad that it does. Not everyone feels that way.
For some, change is the ultimate four letter word.

Jerry