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Concert Ethnography

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Concert Ethnography: Vijay Iyer Sixtet The performance by the Vijay Iyer Sextet on March 7 at Memorial Hall reveals a deeper connection between jazz and the public’s interest in evocative tones. Vijay Iyer is a Grammy-nominated jazz composer and pianist. He is the main composer for the sextet and is seen as the unspoken leader. His sextet is made up of five of his other closest friends, who are all composers and musicians as well. The music this group performs is categorized as improvisational jazz. However, the music also includes different styles of music from other genres. By playing music that encompasses several different genres, the Vijay Iyer Sextet is able to appeal to the demographic of people who are older and listen to the nostalgic …show more content…

In addition, the audience was also older in age and was mainly made up of white Americans. Thus, the demographics of the audience reveals that the type of music being performed by the Vijay Iyer Sixtet appealed to the nostalgic tones of popular American music styles in the past. An example of this is when the sextet performed a piece that was inspired by the Detroit techno music movement. The Detroit techno music movement was popular in the late 1900s and is considered the birthplace of techno music. This incorporation of popular music tones in the past mixed with improvisational jazz induced a much more pronounce reaction from the audience. Throughout the show, the audience reacted calmly to the improvisational jazz pieces played. There were no pronounced or exaggerated reactions from the crowd, as they mainly reacted with claps or a slow head-bob following the beat. However, when the sextet incorporated the use of techno beats and modern technology, such as a soundboard in the Detroit techno piece, the audience reacted with more enthusiasm. The clapping evolved into loud cheering and whistling. The change in reactions by the audience further reveals the …show more content…

The instrumentation of the show included a piano, bass, drums, saxophone, trumpet, fugal horn, and soundboard. The use of popular jazz instruments further reveals the performer’s intention to give the audience a taste of the sentimental, antique tones of jazz music. As the instrumentation reveals the genre of the music being performed, the stage for the show was set up in a way that highlighted the artists performing solos during the improvisational pieces. For example, the use of lights played a large role in visually isolating the soloists. The lights used during the show only illuminated the performers that were located upstage, while there were no lights used to illuminate downstage. Thus, as performers were not playing in the piece they would move downstage into the darkness. This would cause the focus of the audience to shift to the other performers that were still playing. The intentional movement of the artists downstage reveals the artist’s intent to highlight each individual instrument in the sextet and the improvisational skills of the artist playing them. Also, the visual depiction of an artist emerging from the shadows located downstage and playing prompted the audience to clap. The clapping was also prompted after a musician finishes the personal solo improvisational piece within a song. The clapping from the audience when an instrument

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