Latin Jazz Ensemble Concert Report

There were a lot of instruments you could hear when you first listened to this piece. The first instruments that I heard right away were the violins, flutes, and oboes. As I kept listening I noticed the clarinets, bassoons, cello, viola, and the French horn. The instruments that seemed like they were the most important in this piece were the violins, because they started the piece and through-out the rest of the piece they were always there being the main part of this piece.

When the concert first began, the three instrumentalists walked with energy despite their age. The first song, “Sonata I in G-Major Op. 2, Nr. 1” by Michel Blavet, was a Baroque Sonata. There were five movements and was played by the harpsichord, flute, and cello. All movements of the song were polyphonic because of the three instruments that had different parts and equal importance. In the first movement, I noticed that the flute tended to rise in pitch. In the second movement, I noticed that the melodies often repeated. Throughout the rest of the song the tempo changed from fast to slow and the flute would usually take the lead. On the last movement, the cello and the harpsichord

The concert opened with A Moorside Suite from England; it began quietly accompanied by the clarinet and saxophone. The tempo started out slowly, then shifted to fast and back again to slow, throughout the entire piece. There was an appearance of a few soloists including the oboe, clarinet, and saxophone. This movement ended with the entire orchestra leading to a final chorale that builds to a fortissimo climax.

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.

This was evidently appreciated by the audience as it permitted them to understand the background of the piece better. Correspondingly, being that there wasn’t a conductor, the body language was interesting to watch, as the performers organized and timed themselves accordingly. I found that the passion in the duo was more prominent than in past concerts. You could see this reflect on the audience as after the end of every piece, the audience couldn’t help but burst into applause as the passion and exhilaration built up till the very end of the pieces. Moreover, the pieces that where performed felt more intriguing using a wider range of music styles, from jazz to classical waltz. Therefore, the pieces ranged in dynamics, tone and mood evoking many more moods and

My favorite part of the concert was the second part. The group played a song called “Body and Soul.” The guitarist played slowly before the others joined. They created a relaxed atmosphere with an old-school effect. All the notes were legato except the melodies of the drum which was staccato. The combination added character to the piece and made it entertaining. At 19:00, the pianist played briskly but beautifully, then the guitarist did the same. The notes became high pitched and the tempo and dynamics increased. After the guitar stopped, everything went into decrescendo and the melodies from the bass and drums became choppy (staccato). Overall the piece surrounded the theme of dependence and how it affects one’s happiness or strength. The piano and the guitar brought the happy aspect to the piece and without it, everything weakened and became uncoordinated. Initially it celebrated peace,

The University of Redlands Wind Ensemble, directed by Eddie R. Smith, put on a show at the Memorial Chapel on Tuesday, November 16th. Walking into the monumental Chapel I was unsure of what to expect. As I walked in I saw the amazing artwork around, the high ceilings, and a wide variety of instruments scattered on different levels of the stage. On the first level there were many small hand held instruments such as flutes and clarinets, on the second there were a wide variety of brass instruments, and finally in the last row were the percussion instruments. Knowing that it was a wind ensemble and not a traditional orchestra like the ones we have been made familiar with during this course, I was unsure of what to expect. I thought that

If you did not make it out to see The Jazz Ensemble on Tuesday, Apr. 19th, then you really missed out on a great evening of music. Family, friends, and jazz lovers nearly filled the Anne R. Belk Theater to watch and listen to the performance directed by Dr. Will Campbell, with special guest Derrick Gardner. Gardner is a highly accomplished jazz trumpet player, who has traveled the world playing jazz music.The Ensemble member are; Bryce Harris, Jonathan Carroll, Cody Belton, Garrett Brown and Bryan Patterson on the saxophone, Richard Hall, Casey Blackwelder, Wesley Taylor, Liam McMahon and Cameron Francis on the trumpet, Nathan Ricer, Patrick Foray, Virginia Crooks and Kyle Barnhardt on the trombone, Dallas Holder on the piano, Brian Gilbert on the guitar, and Colin Ray and Eric Chang on the drums. The Ensemble played seven songs, and four of those were played with Gardner. The songs were performed in this order “A Pair of Aces,” “You Must Believe in Spring,” “Count Me In,” “Big Dipper,” “Footprints,” “Just a Touch” and “Lil’ Fawdy.” All of the songs were performed exceptionally well, out of the seven these two were my favorite.

Saint Louis Brass began their set with a harmonious, traditional 1600s tune. I was amazed at how well all the sounds from the brass instruments melded together. Before hand, when I thought of brass instruments, especially trumpets, I thought of the sharp notes often played in jazz; however, the smooth sounds from the five instruments infiltrated the room, completely filling my body with a calm peace. The musicians sat, fully engaged in the music that buzzed from their lips. I really enjoy this antiquated piece of music far more than I anticipated.

I loved the improvisations for this recital, especially the saxophonist from Konrad Plays Klarinet, Colin Houlihan. As a former saxophonist, the tone and constant improvisation was incredible as he put his entire soul into that instrument. Sweating, smiling and happy, anyone could tell that Colin was happy to be there. “So Dance Samba” by Antonio Carlos Jobim also had a lot of improvises. “So Dance Samba” started with the frontline playing together for a certain section before individual solos played. The clarinet improvised with long notes at a high pitch and gradually got faster in notes as the sound increased. The trombone solo had a strong forte resonance with a percussion background and electric guitar background. The pianist solo used syncopated notes and many arpeggios that were in the higher register. The electric guitar solo slowly built up his part, the clarinet played another solo and then the last solo went to the percussionist. The percussionist and the entire band made it seemed like the piece had ended, and then they would play again which made me very

Never could I have thought that my first concert experience was going to be in a college class, performed by various composers of classical music. During the concert, I got to listen to four performances. First, the Oxycotton was played by Tim Sanchez. Second, Samantha Post played Acht Stucke on flute, followed by Nicholas Gledhill, playing Blues and Variations for Monk on horn. Finally, the CSU Graduate Brass Quintet performed a piece named Misty. In this essay, I will share my personal experience of the concert and discuss the different elements of music seen in the different performances.

I feel that the fourteen members of chamber orchestra and the two vocalists did an outstanding job. This piece was well put together. I loved the harmony that was brought forth between the orchestra and the vocalists. The two vocalists a tenor known as Paul Groves and a soprano known as Anna Larson, did a beautiful job staying in tune. The way that their voices went back and forth in harmony was just beautiful.

On April 6th, the University of Georgia had a musical event entitled “UGA Percussion Ensemble.” It was held at Hugh Hodgson School of Music in the Ramsey Concert Hall. There were eighteen talented performers with two skilled directors. The directors were Mr. Timothy K. Adams Jr. and Ms. Kimberly Toscano Adams. There was a total of seven percussion performances. The venue was smaller than expected but it was breathtakingly beautiful. The musicians played old and new percussion pieces. Newly composed pieces such as Burning Green, composed in 2013, The Frame Problem, 2003, and The Loneliness of Sana Claus, 1994. The older pieces that performed in the concert where Rite of the Black Sun, Off-Axis, and Mark V: Marimba Toccata. All of the musical works were beautifully composed percussion pieces, and the musicians did the works justice.

There were a total of four music pieces performed. They were “Overture from the Singspiel”, “Concerto in e minor”, “Concerto on b minor,opus 104”, and “Symphony#2 in b minor, opus 5”. I think pieces were performed belong to classical style.

The “Summer Solstice Jazz Festival,” is the event that I have choice to attend and examine. This event occurred June 17th – June 18th, and was displayed in Downtown East Lansing. The artist performed authentic and classic pieces, which the pool of performers ranged from local/ national artist. What I found to be most interesting about the performance was the multitude or artist that performed his or her own pieces and the quality of their work. This experienced exposed me to the work that it actually takes to bring together a performance, meaning not just the music but also the choreography. I enjoyed the performance because it exposed me to new upcoming artist, which musical pieces encourage positivity.