Jazz Workshop And Class Material Essay

I.Introduction: Good afternoon everyone, my name is Giselle Levario. I am a freshman here at NMSU with a love for music and today I will be informing you all about one of my favorite music genres, Jazz and it’s history. First, I will talk why Jazz was important to society during the Great Depression. Second, I will discuss the various techniques and rhythms used in a Jazz ensemble and finally, I will discuss why Jazz music is still influential to today’s society and music culture.

Duke Ellington's pre-eminence in jazz is not only because of the very high aesthetic standard of his output and not simply due to his remarkable abilities as a pianist, composer and bandleader, but also to the fact that he has extended the boundaries of jazz more than any other musician, without abandoning the true essence of the music. Perhaps no other American musician left such a massive and challenging legacy in composition and performance.

I attended the Baylor University Concert Jazz Ensemble directed by Alex Parker on Tuesday, November 10th. This ensemble consisted of saxes, trombones, trumpets, drums, a piano, and bass. The concert showcased many individual talents by including solo’s or duet’s in every song. The program consisted of seven songs with no intermission. The pieces I selected were “Big Dipper” by Thad Jones and “Undecided” by Frank Mantooth.

I attended a Jazz Recital presented by faculty on March 9th 2016 in Marlboro Hall 1076. The recital was performed by Bobby Muncy, Gene D’Andrea, Shaun Jurek, Andrew Hare and Dr. Nakia Verner. The group performed the following songs, Donna Lee composed by Charlie Parker, Wave composed by Antonio Carlos Jobim, Misty composed by Erroll Garner, Another Song(For All The Pretty People) and Impressions composed by John Coltrane. In my essay I will discuss Impressions composed by John Coltrane.

Jazz is a music genre that has complex characteristics and history of development and thus many musicians and scholars face troubles in defining what jazz is. In general, jazz is believed to have born in New Orleans. Jazz developed for the pleasure of the social dancers. According to the “Understanding Jazz: What Is Jazz?” of John F. Kennedy center for the Performing Arts, Jazz was created mainly by Afro-Americans, and had elements of European and Afro-American culture. Also, it emphasizes few elements of Jazz, which are swing-feel, syncopation, and improvisation. These different culture and elements of jazz may be explained by how jazz

Sherman Irby and Ted Nash played the alto saxophone. Victor Goines and Walter Blanding played the tenor saxophone. Paul Nedzela played the baritone saxophone. Vincent Gardner, Elliot Mason and Chris Crenshaw played the trombone while Shareef Clayton, Kenny Rampton, Marcus Printup, and Wynton Marsalis played the trumpet. Adam Birnbaum played the piano, Carlos Henriquez

This is why I liked Miles Davis the best; his music (and its characteristics) have changed over the years with jazz. His early music featured lots of syncopation, which is the off beat rhythms that became popular during the Bebop era (Kaplan). This ability to create superb, engaging music with elements of syncopation that embody his emotions is why Davis is my favorite artist. His struggles with drug addiction resulted in sincere music that the listener can hear. Thus, the improvisation in his music ‒ notably on “Yesterdays” ‒ makes the songs melodic and intimate (Giddins). Just as Davis was able to vary his performance during his songs, his role in the alterations to the genre of jazz music is also a justification of why he is my favorite jazz artist. Listening to his works, I observed the notable swings ‒ the rhythm that makes jazz music “jazzy” ‒ during solo performances, but also combo jazz performances with other important jazz musicians (Willoughby). Although Davis’s songs do not feature many words, I believe that his intricate music is much more enjoyable and methodical than nearly any musical contribution of our current

The concert I decided to go to was held in Valley Brewing Company. The event was called “Take 5, Jazz at the Brew”. I went to the show July 11, 2013. The group I saw didn’t have a name. It was just a group of people performing together. The concert hall was a very nice venue. It was on an extended closed off area past the common area at the bar. The area was very dim lit and was decorated very fancy and elaborate. The music that was played that night was Jazz.

venue. The purpose of this concert was to give people a taste of the NEIU

The first formal small jazz concert was held at the Maum Café on Sep. 25th, 2008. There were many music performances have held at the Maum Café but Zino Park, leader of the band, and manager of Maum Café agreed to arrange a formal jazz concert for the first time. The main theme of this concert was “Smooth Jazz with Zino Park at Maum”. Before the concert began, the band members introduced themselves to the audience. The names of players were:

It was performed by the CSU Graduate Brass Quintet, consisting of Nikolas Valinsky, Matthew Chanlynn, Emelie Pfaff, William Gamache, and Heather Ewer. While Valinsky and Chanlynn played the trumpet, Pfaff played the horn, Gamache the trombone and Ewer tuba. This quartet accomplished a wonderful work by the different melodies, pitches and dynamics. While the tuba was heard more in the background due to its low pitch, the most significant instruments were the trumpets. Not only did they provide the highest pitch but it was also heard as the main instrument because of their rhythm. Together, this group of brass instruments created a dense rhythm by providing the audience with several layers of music on top of each-other. Altogether, I enjoyed this piece the most. It made me feel happy, excited and joyful.

Although Armstrong played the trumpet and Beiderbecke played the cornet, they were both able to improvise at very different scales. Louis improvisation created a brighter, exciting sound, hitting high ranges with the trumpet and Beiderbecke created a sound so delicate and easy hearing that it was even hard to capture on recordings. Both artist are very influential and because of their unique improvisation contributed to upcoming styles of Jazz.

Jazz was inspired by African-American folk music, Blues and Ragtime in the early 20th century and introduced in New Orleans. According to the text book “Discovering Humanities”, “Jazz was “the” American music, and was almost as popular in Paris and Berlin as it was in New York, Chicago, and New Orleans” (468). The first feature of Jazz is improvisation, when a song was played there is no specific arrangement, it is spontaneously elaborated around a specific song (Listen, 386). A second feature is that there is a rhythmic style that involves highly developed syncopation. Syncopation occurs when accents in

Music is about the where, when, and why. Jazz rarely visits me unaccompanied. Jazz often gets me through long drives, work requiring intense focus, creative endeavors, and even writing this very essay. I have a divided interest in old and new jazz. Some of my favorite old artists are Isham Jones, Nat King Cole, Charlie Parker, and John Coltrane. Newer artists I enjoy include Gregory Porter, Twin Danger, and the incredible Kamasi Washington. One thing you will find these musicians share, is an exceptional rhythmic style. With or without percussion, there is no music without rhythm. When somebody makes music out of tune intentionally, it has been considered avant-garde. But music without tempo is not music at

My fanatical obsession with jazz started just as the school year was ending. I had already been in my middle school’s jazz ensemble for some time now, but all we played were monotonous blues charts where my fellow bandmates and I would haphazardly attempt to improvise over a pentatonic scale. My band director brought in her vinyl copy of Miles Davis’ landmark 1959 album, Kind of Blue as part of our weekly listening test. It transformed my understanding of jazz. Before then the only jazz I knew was Chuck Mangione and David Benoit tunes my mom had put on while cooking or driving. The haunting melodies of “So What” and “Blue in Green” were a complete divergence from what were been playing throughout the school year. What I had witnessed was not dance music, but an image of a smokey downtown jazz bar painted by Davis himself. And while the rest of the ensemble passed it off as “old man music”, I wondered, how do I sound like that?