I am a saxophone major here at UK and there is a very big part of my musical career that is spent on jazz music. as i am studying here i am required to go to a number of jazz concerts that happen either on or off campus. I was recently at a jazz concert this week and i thought i would write about my experience at the performance. Since i am i sax player i played very close attention to the saxes playing in the band but i also heard the others and thought as a whole that the concert was very good. the saxophones solely were my favorite part because they were doing a very good job of interpreting the style of each piece they were playing. this is a very big part of the jazz world. There are a lot of styles of music right now and jazz music is written for most of them. As i think about it i can think of at least ten different styles of jazz that i have played in my life and i will play a lot more as i get older. Also the saxophones did a very good job of keeping a nice warm sections sound. With about five players it is very hard to make one sound together and make it sound good. All of the players have to blend their sounds together to make that one perfect sound that all jazz lovers love to hear. They also did a very good job of staying together while they were playing. It is pretty hard to stay together with two people let alone five good players. It does help that they had a drummer behind them keeping the time but sometimes players seem to drift off and chose a new tempo for them to play at. I also noticed that one of the players was lost in his music most of the time. This was very disappointing because he should at least be able to find his way though the music and not get lost but he wasn’t doing a very good job. There was a lot of good things going on at this concert but there was a lot of bad things going on also. At one point a sax player stood up for no reason and then sat down because he realized how dumb he looked. I i was very pleased with the concert but there were still something’s that could have been worked out in the practice rooms. All in all the concert was very good and i think that Miles Osland is doing a great job leading the UK Jazz Ensemble. They are actually one of the best jazz ensembles in the country. They have went over seas many times to play and they also have been in multiple papers over the years. They are a great group and they are getting better as the days go on.
December 3, 2008
That thing they call Jazz by Matt Julian
Posted by nightwriters028 under Uncategorized | Tags: cultural text |[10] Comments
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December 9, 2008 at 2:03 pm
I used to play clarinet, and even thought it was only for about 2 years, i still enjoyed it alot. ANd I completely agree with you on how hard it can be to get a sound to be perfect, it only comes with years and years of practice, and a love for what you do. I’m glad that shows like these still go on today when there is so much other music out there that is not nearly as great as what jazz was. And the fact that people today still appreciate will help it live forever!
December 10, 2008 at 4:09 pm
I play guitar myself and I have always had trouble playing “with” other people to a song rather than on my own. I either end up going to fast or going to slow or maybe the other guitarist does the same thing. That and maybe one of us gets distracted. For not 2,not 3, not 3, but 5 sax players to play in unison is amazing to me as it is more difficult than some people think. As for the rest of the concert it does sound like there were some miscues here and there but NO performance goes completely perfect. Ask most musicians and pretty much all will say that some problem or two occured during the concert and they had to try and rectify it. All in all it seemed to be a very good concert and I get the feeling that you enjoyed yourself.
December 12, 2008 at 12:17 am
a great musician once told me that the best jazz is played like you’re drunk. you gotta let the player enjoy some creativity every now and then. you can’t play a jazz piece the same way every time or it loses it’s FuNk! also i liked that you added some comments about the drummer. niiice.
December 12, 2008 at 6:51 am
I play the piano and I completely agree with what you said about how hard it is to stay together with other people. I can’t even stay together with someone singing, let alone with someone playing another instrument! Timing has to be perfect and everything. It can be hard sometimes!
December 12, 2008 at 1:10 pm
I played the trumpet for three years in middle school. The thing that always made me the most nervous was having to play the same thing with the other trumpets. I was always scared it would be me who messed up and made the whole section sound bad.
December 15, 2008 at 12:24 pm
I have never played an instrument but have always wanted to learn. How long have you been playing? The jazz concert sounded like it was good experience and it is really good as a muscian that you can pick out their mistakes.
December 15, 2008 at 6:28 pm
That’s really cool you play the sax. I never even realized it. Its disappointing the concert wasn’t as good as you had hoped, but it was nice to hear they are very talented and are improving everyday.
December 17, 2008 at 9:19 pm
I also play the sax, though i haven’t played in a long time. I used to play in band in middle school and stuff and have regretted quieting ever since. I think being able to play the sax is pretty cool and there i a lot of great music out there for it. I hav never really been that into jazz though or attended a concert but it sounds pretty cool
December 17, 2008 at 10:44 pm
Wow, what a neat experience! I heard Miles play at the football game a while back and he blew me away! I know it takes a lot of dedication and talent to play an instrument so I really admire the people who take the time to develop their musical abilities!
December 17, 2008 at 10:44 pm
You made me laugh about how stupid the guy looked and how you thought some of it was disappointing. I dont have the musical ear to tell when a player isnt playing so well. I used to play the piano but i stopped, although i wish i never did. Music was always something i liked. I’m glad its a big part of your life and how you are contiuing to do what you love.