St Louis Brass Concert Report

I stood up in front of a hundred curious, gleaming eyes. “Hey guys,” I began, “I’m going to show you why the trombone is the coolest brass instrument ever!” I immediately whipped the slide out and performed a series of sequential glissandos, each one with more vigor than the last. That morning, I was performing with my school’s jazz band at the KIPP Elementary Academy in Philadelphia. Over a decade passed since I had last stepped foot in a Philadelphia school, when I attended the James Dobson School in kindergarten, yet the cozy gymnasium and the children’s crisp uniforms instantly evoked memories of my childhood. But one thing I did not remember from the past was having the opportunity to experience jazz at a young age. Thus, I desperately wanted to display the awesome power of brass instruments that is the soul of jazz music and inspire the kids to partake in the timelessly euphoric journey of music that I am blessed to have taken.

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.

Watching Louis Armstrong’s live performance in Berlin during the year 1965 was a pleasure, especially because I am a great fan of his music. Throughout the concert in Berlin, Armstrong and his chamber orchestra played 13 different pieces. With the exception of Jewel Woods’ entrance on vocals for two songs, the makeup of the chamber orchestra did not change throughout the concert. As a result, the cello, clarinet, drums, piano, trombone, and trumpet remained vital parts of each song throughout the concert.

On November 17th, 2016, I attended a jazz concert and had quite a time. The experience was captivating, and gave me a warm feeling inside. There were three different bands that play in the hour slot, and all of them sounded magnificent, but “The Santé Fe Jazz Combo” and “Santa Fe Big Band” stood out the most. The only thing these two bands have in common is that some of the musicians play in both bands. Otherwise, these jazz fanatics are polar opposites.

On April 11th, 2017 in the Louis Armstrong Theatre, I attended the GVSU “University Band”. This up-beat ensemble lasted about 90 minutes; the talented students of GVSU’s university band joined together to perform multiple different songs ranging from a Waltz to a Dixieland Jamboree. All of the songs that the band played for the audience were all well-known, popular songs that they all enjoyed. Having the opportunity to attend this concert has opened new musical paths for myself and has allowed me to enjoy and kindly critique something that I perhaps would have never had the chance to otherwise.

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

As this year’s Brass Quintet’s Student Director, I seek to inspire and spur on this select group of musicians, while coordinating all rehearsal and performance details for our intimate chamber group. Additionally, in order to push the boundaries of my musical expertise, I will be composing a unique arrangement of our high school’s alma mater, as a new music repertoire for our group. While seeking to extend my capabilities musically and to translate lessons learned to my broader character, I am vividly reminded of the impact and presence of my now scuffed and well-used trumpet in so many facets of my life. My trumpet playing reflects my desire to continue to push myself musically, and in whatever course of life I choose, and it will certainly be a vital element of my

Against the lush green field of the White River State Park, stood the impressive stage. The show began with a riveting American fanfare, encompassing the brass section. Undoubtedly the trumpets took center stage here. The trills of these brass instruments painted this piece vividly. Accompanying the trumpets, were the rich deep whispers of the tubas and horns, lightly adorning the melody. This was then followed by the

Brass bands generally consisted of brass instruments such as the bugle, cornet, sackbut, saxhorn, snare and bass drum. A unique instrument of the ensemble is the saxhorn (APPENDIX A), an instrument family consisting of the flugelhorn, baritone, and alto horn. Today, the instrument is still used but mostly as euphonium/baritone, flugelhorn, or mellophone. Lewis (2015), discusses a twelve-key bugle unique to the Civil War era, to be a very common solo instrument. This keyed bugle was an improvement to the original open key bugle of the American Revolutionary War (APPENDIX B).

There was no theme to the music that was played. The concert involved different genres of jazz, including Latin, contemporary, big band, and Dixieland. I felt that there was a good mix of songs and it did not affect the concert since there was no theme.

On November 14th, the Lawrence University Jazz Workshop, under the direction of José Encarnación, played a concert of five tunes in Harper Hall. This ensemble consisted of a full rhythm section, six saxophones, a trombone and a cello making up the trombone section, and four trumpets. The purpose of this concert was to demonstrate what the Jazz Workshop had been working on throughout fall term as well as function as a final exam. Over the course of about 40 minutes, they played five pieces of different styles that featured and challenged different parts of the ensemble.

Ranging from playing pieces by J.S. Bach to pieces by Billy Joel, The Boston Brass is a brass quintet with a french horn, two trumpets, a tuba, and a trombone that recognizes works from many different genres in a concert, including Orchestra, Opera, Ballet, Jazz, Broadway, and more. Their concert Friday night, on September 15th in the Concert hall of the Forbes Center featured a wide variety of music that the group excelled at playing, including concert highlights of “Milonga del Angel” or “Gathering of the Angels” by Astor Piazzolla, a surprise performance of “The Little Feud in G Minor” by J.S. Bach, “Fly Me to the Moon” by Frank Sinatra and “Caravan” by Duke Ellington. The group’s charisma with both the audience and each other made the performance a ‘must-see’ and a wonderful way to spend an evening.

This was a great piece to start the concert with. Finding out later from Conductor Dr. Chuck (what he likes to be called) that the concert was Americana themed, the orchestra did a fantastic job bringing in the crowd with a song everyone would know. I caught myself dancing along with the music and counting the beats along with the orchestra. Played with great fortissimo is exactly how I pictured American bands and orchestras playing during the Revolutionary War. I loved it when all of a sudden they went very pianissimo and then crescendo into my all-time favorite patriotic song, Yankee Doodle!

Brass bands survived and thrived by incorporating popular music. Contemporary brass bands are no exemption to this either. This chapter examines the particular pieces that have been a part of the repertoire since the turn of the twentieth century. It will concentrate on how the band members used popular music into their own style to fit the band's instrumentation, technique and style.

3rd Prize - Cover Design Featuring Graphic Elements: New Studies For Trumpet by Darren Fellows