Jazz Critique

On March 4, 2013, I attended the Jazz Orchestra held in Music Concert Hall. It was the first spring semester performance directed by Aaron Lington. The jazz band collectively played seven pieces in total. The songs performed were entitled “Nobody’s Perfect,” “Madcap,” “Point of You,” “One Mint Julep,” “A View from the Side,” “Chiaroscuro,” and “A Little Minor Booze. “Nobody’s Perfect,” written by Sammy Nestico was the first piece. The song greeted the audience with the classic jazz rhythm by setting a romantic mood and throughout the song. Brendan Carroll who played the saxophone, was exceptionally moving as he stood up when giving out his solo. The director chose a great piece as it was worth listening to at the start. “Madcap,” written by Chuck Owen, is an upbeat song that created a jazz-surge effect. This piece, in particular, was rhythmic thinking where it started out as a steady tempo and seemed to get faster near the end. “Point of You” written by James Miley, is a funky, hip hop tune that I felt stood out the most. It had a different style than the classical jazz music that included an electric guitar played by soloist, Brian Sheu. The dynamics of the song started at the beginning where all instruments including saxophones, trumpets, trombones, piano, drums, and bass played at once. Throughout the song, you could feel the song getting louder as it echoed within the room, and then changed into a soft, moderate level until the song ended. “One Mint Julep,” arranged by Baylock, was my favorite piece among the seven. It was the catchy, upbeat rhythm that caught my attention and pulled me in. This Latin-inspired music had new style from an R&B tune. The pattern was very noticeable and well-expressed; I, especially enjoyed listening to the soloists with Nichole Boaz on the piano and Myles Taylor on the saxophone. When the soloists got out of their seat to play their part, I could feel the excitement build and wanted to get up as everyone applauded. The balance of the instruments collided well with the rest. The harmony was bright and happy, while there were some parts where the tempo changed cool and relaxing to emphasize the saxophone part. This music was so vibrant and lively, I ended up having Goosebumps. “A View from the Side,” written by Bill Holman, contained a different kind of experience with each instrument. The music started a crescendo with a soft pitch and soon increases with a very loud tone, and it repeats until the end. “A Little Minor Booze,” written by Willie Maiden, is a play on from the word, “blue.” It had a more orchestral sound, and contained a steady, relaxing beat throughout the song. It was a great performance, but I felt the song, itself, lacked in depth compared to the rest of the ensembles. The last performance, “Chiaroscuro,” written by Alan Baylock, had a motto tune. The element was different and unique, and it had more of a swing feeling to it. The tempo was slow in the beginning and soon increases along with the dynamics when introducing the soloist. The Jazz Orchestra picked another fantastic choice for their last song. Performers and soloists that I have not mentioned includes Oscar Pangilinan, Robel Behare, Jimmy Horine (Saxophones), Rigo Velez Daniel Matthews, Gary Ortega, Alex Plemons-Jones, Alex Gallegos (Trumpets), Ryan Bettencourt, Christian Manzana, Veronica Christie, Hubert Tai, Andrew Hill (Trombones), Christopher Main, Andoni Bundros, Tom Langan, Danny Gerz, John Kellett, and Francheschi (Rhythm); they all played tremendously well, with no mistakes that I could point out. This ensemble related very much with the form I learned in the course. We learned about understanding the pitch of the notes along throughout the entire song. Although each song had a different tone, all of them were common in dynamics. All of the pieces were empowering with their strong timbre. Each song provided different sounds; for example, there were soft pitches in measures, and unexpectedly, the crescendo of the music starts to appear, creating a dramatic effect.