On April Fourth The Studley Jazz Ensemble, Under The Direction

Blues music is mainly defined by its lyrics, which are more lyrical in nature, rather than narrative. In B.B. King’s song, “Every Day I Have the Blues,” King gives us a good example of what blues music is generally about,

For this analysis on Louis Armstrong’s West End Blues, I am going to concentrate on Louis Armstrong and how influential he was in the birth of Swing. He was extremely innovative in the way he played his instrument. Louis Armstrong had a brilliant trumpet sound. His power, range, and his rhythmic approach are all trademarks of his playing in the 1920s and 1930s. West End Blues is still considered one of the most influential and classic pieces in the Jazz Industry. I will explain why by breaking down the song utilizing the five elements of music; form, harmony, texture, melody, and rhythm.

Even through imitating the form, melody and rhythm, the piece still transformed into a diverse jazz piece in comparison to the original. Once more, it is expressed that Glenn Miller thoughtfully manipulated “In The Mood” that has in effect redefined this piece; this is proven through the exploration of three key terminologies: Assimilate, Innovate and Imitate. Fundamentally, Jazz was a powerful era that essentially changed the notions of music; Glenn Miller successfully explored this convention and reformed “In The Mood” that completely altered its definition as a Jazz

The next song, “Oopsey Daisey My Sweetheart” was the piece that Dr. Carol Williams wrote. I liked the melodies and harmonies overall. It was very interesting music piece. I wish I could get a contact with her and wanted to ask a few questions about this piece of music. Also the singer, Martha Jane Weaver, sang this song great that both the singer, write of the music, and the player received a great attention from the audiences.

While in the head, the winds played a harmonization of one theme, the rest of the band just accompanied behind them, creating a rather homophonic texture. The form of the piece seemed rather simple, AAI, with larger structure of: intro-head-solos-head-tag. At the beginning of the piece, the drumset player was given room to improvise an intro, and it was nice to hear what he did especially after not having played many solos in the previous tunes. Right after the drumset player’s intro, the group jumped right into the head. This specific arrangement seemed to have written out snippets of Coltrane’s solo, because right after both iterations of the head, instead of jumping into the solo section there was a densely-harmonized saxophone soli that sounded like quotations. It was after this showcase and a few more embellishments from the rest of the group that the actual solos began. Most of the soloing was grounded on staying right on top of the changes and echoing the angular phrases in the head, not venturing out too far with the rhythms. I think the soloists did a good job of that, but could have taken more risks with playing around with the rhythms. However, being in the hot seat is already stressful enough on this piece that playing it safe is not a bad thing, it’s just about surviving at that

Handy's contributions in shaping what is called the blues were influenced by the African-American musical folk traditions that he experienced during his travels and performances. In the year 1892 he formed a band that was called “Lauzette Quartet”, with the intention of performing at the Chicago World's Fair later that year. However, when the fair was postponed until 1893, the band split and went there separate ways. Handy ended up going to St. Louis shortly after where he experienced many difficult days of poverty, hunger and even homelessness.

On Friday, February 12, 2016 at 7:00 p.m., the Division of Music at Bob Jones University presented the Symphonic Wind Band and performed five pieces. The performance in Stratton Hall at Bob Jones University was a highlight of the European Travelogue, directed by Dan Turner. The program included A Moorside Suite by Gustav Holst; Three Revolutionary Marches by Bedrich Smetana; Spring: Overture for Wind Orchestra by Johan de Meij; Galop, from Genevieve de Brabant by Jacques Offenbach; Ile-de-France from Suite Francaise by Darius Milhaud; and Danceries by Kenneth Hesketh. Each piece was concluded with eager applause and praise.

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.

After “Indiana” was performed, the chamber orchestra transitioned to a more dolce and pesante “Black and Blue.” Throughout this song, each performer played softly, keeping the dynamic at a piano level until Armstrong’s trumpet began to raise the dynamic to a more mezzo piano level. The song’s

When listening to “The Santé Fe Jazz Combo,” you get a mellow feeling that courses through your body. Their opener “Recorda-Me,” which was my favorite piece, featured solos from Dr. Hamilton on Piano, Spencer Hoefert on Guitar, Ben Salhanick on Bass, Doc B on Alto Sax, Wyatt Thomas on Trombone, and Noah Woolard on Drum Set. The song had a moderate swing tempo that kept your feet tapping up until the solo. First, the brass rang through their part, then the electric instruments. Next came the bass; he was strumming so fast but he was barely audible. The pianist busting through with a tricky piano rift and the drummer finished it off with an intense solo. Every rim-shot sent a jolt into the air like lightning and the buzz rolls sounded like thunder. Noah’s part reminded me why I love playing the drums.

During the early 1900’s, a new style of music began to take shape in the colorful city of New Orleans. People from all over the world came to exchange stories, conversation, and music. Although it is a very hard genre of music to define, it is said that Jazz is the combination of European and African music that was brought in via the ports. With mostly an African American population, the musicians shared their music in Storyville - a cultural melting pot, and began to spread the “New Orleans Sound”. They contributed to what would soon be known as Jazz in 1917. The spontaneous nature of Jazz’s syncopation and sound makes it a very humanistic style of music and makes every performance original. Every day we improvise, whether it is in conversation or spur of the moment decisions. These truly unique elements caused Jazz to become a symbol of America, and changed music forever.

The “Davenport Blues” introduction begins sounding somewhat homophonic. It sounded homophonic because the cornet and clarinet begin by playing the same melody but at different pitches. The melody in the intro sounds a little broken up and unorganized. But then we begin to hear the verses becoming somewhat reminiscent of the New Orleans style, which is known for its collective improvisation and polyphony. Polyphony is clearly heard in the three different melodies played simultaneously by the cornet, clarinet, and trombone in the “Davenport Blues” verses.

It has a big band sound yet is infused with enough modern sound and stylings to let the listener know this is not a piece from the earlier era of jazz music. Marsalis’ style of jazz offers a staccato sound that enjoys vivid runs that takes the listener on a journey through the music. It is a real experience that leads the listener along a road never sure of where he will end up but certain the end result will be good. The tune conveys a happy, joyous melody that builds upon itself.

The title of the fourth song was called, “Let’s get away from it all”. In their fourth song again, saxophone was played a huge role. From the beginning of the song piano kept playing same melody line repeated and saxophone was moving wide range of notes and pitch. The rhythm and the tempo of drum changed as saxophone changed rhythm and the tempo. The bass guitar helped drum to follow saxophone’s rhythm and tempo. The saxophone style was kind of similar with the how Louis Armstrong was playing a solo. There were two guitars, but saxophone dominated other instruments and it was difficult to hear other instruments.

The mystery of Jazz and its powerful impact on the music community can be explained largely by the context of it’s creation. Jazz was born in the United States, and because of this, many have referred to Jazz as “America’s music.” Like America, Jazz has a balance between structure and spontaneity. It capitalizes on the fluidity of the musicians, having several different instruments with independent spirits, coming together as one to form a great piece of music. Unlike other styles of music, Jazz has a certain way about it that makes it stand-alone in the world of genres. It improvises, moves, and transforms itself in a moment’s notice based on the musician’s intuition. Just as America harbors democracy, so too does a jazz ensemble, showing both the responsibility to a larger group, yet still allowing room for individual freedom. It all comes down to how well others can respect the overall framework and structure of the jingle.