On Sock Loss

Just so everybody knows, one of our drummers is currently looking for one of his socks as he lost it listening to The First Circle. If you find his sock, please contact jazz 4 nothin' so we may keep it for him until we are done learning that piece (out of fear he may lose it again).

Note from Albus Dumbledore: "You can never have too many socks."

Start listening to The First Circle, like, yesterday.

Artemis and Apollo

Just a minor note:

Artemis and Apollo, the minor-ish (and if you listened to the sample, you know what i mean) ballad, is being ordered this week. You will probably see it on the first practice if shipping goes well.

Folders and Charts, Oh My!

Some of the following was on an older blog post and some of it is new information, so here is some quality info. for Jazz 4 Nothin'.

Most of the folders have been handed out; if you have not yet received your folder, either you have contacted Alison or Jon and they are sending it to you by mail, or you have not contacted them and you should do so if you wish to look at your parts during the winter break. The first practice is on January 11th, and performance dates are starting to appear on the schedule starting possibly in mid-April.

The following are links to recording samples through www.marinamusic.com, and you are urged to check them out, with special emphasis on "The First Circle" and "Malaguena": (When you click on "download mp3" either the page will move forward to a quicktime player or it is a free download which you can either "open" or "save" - just follow the instructions - it's all free). Also look for youtube recordings of other bands playing the piece, but make sure you have the correct arrangement.)

"In the Stone" by Earth, Wind & Fire; arr. Paul Murtha
http://www.marinamusic.com/detail.tpl?sku=D4396&show=res&cart=1261183120129833&keyword=in%20the%20stone&where=title&where1=comparr&where2=desc1&andor=wo&

"The First Circle" by Pat Metheny, Lyle Mays; arr. Bob Curnow
http://www.marinamusic.com/detail.tpl?sku=D2372&keyword=the%20first%20circle&where=title&where1=comparr&where2=desc1&andor=wo&

"Artemis and Apollo" by Johnny Richards; arr. Bob Curnow
http://www.marinamusic.com/detail.tpl?sku=A3213&keyword=artemis%20and%20apollo&where=title&where1=comparr&where2=desc1&andor=wo&

"Malaguena" by Ernesto Lecuona, the original Stan Kenton Orch; arr. by Bill Holman
http://www.marinamusic.com/detail.tpl?sku=A3131&show=res&cart=1261183120129833&keyword=malaguena&where=title&where1=comparr&where2=desc1&andor=wo&

Have a great holiday season everyone, and if you are on facebook, join the Facebook group (search "Jazz 4 Nothin'") and join the discussion there. Remember, practices will run from 7-9PM at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Doylestown, PA, and in a week or two, directions to the church will be posted in the blog.

3 Out of 4 Charts

Hey everybody, another major update:

The band now has three out of the four charts for the first set and copies are being made that people can take home to practice (the originals are not being distributed). Folders are being compiled and we are hoping that as many of the members of the band who can will meet this weekend (over coffee or whatnot) to pick up their folders before the holidays, meet other players and get logistics.

There is also a slight change to the set order. It now reads as follows due to interest by many players to do a certain piece as a closer. This is the best chart suggestion that one's heard coming from a saxophone in all time. And the heavens opened and a voice proclaimed: thou need Malaguena and I make this saxophone player my messenger. And the trumpet rang out in response: YES! YES! YES! Malaguena. And all was awesome in the world.

As a side note, three french horns will be contacted to do this chart, but it does call for four horns which are not optional. So we need one more french horn.

Here is the edited set list:

In the Stone by Earth, Wind and Fire, arr. Paul Murtha
The First Circle by Pat Metheny, arr. Bob Curnow
Artemis and Apollo by Johnny Richards, arr. Bob Curnow
Malaguena (orig. Stan Kenton Orchestra Arrangement comp. and trans. by Bill Holman)

Of all the pieces though, band members should start listening to The First Circle, in order to get used to the pulse. DON'T LEARN THE RHYTHMS INCORRECTLY. Do some research on the piece and check out the sample page of score from www.marinamusic.com. Open it as a pdf and print it out and look at the clapping parts at the beginning. Get used to the 12/8 to 10/8 bars. This weekend, with whoever can meet up, we will be discussing how to practice this piece in particular.

Take care everyone with the winter weather!

Rehearsal Space Confirmed!

Hey everybody, just a quick but major update.

Jazz 4 Nothin' now has a rehearsal space for Monday night practices starting in January from 7-9 PM. Rehearsals will be held at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Doylestown, PA. If you know Doylestown and are unfamiliar with this location, it is right off of Main St. across from the Dairy Queen.

Having approached the church with this request for space, and for their willingness to help this fledgling organization, we will be speaking with their staff about playing performances for the church for free starting in mid- to late March.

We are extremely grateful to the people of St. Paul's Lutheran for allowing us to practice there once a week! See you all at practice before we know it! :)

Possible Start Date and Rehearsal Space

So, just as a quick update: the band is looking to start rehearsing in the middle of January 2010. Assuming that rehearsals will be on Monday nights (7-9 PM), this will probably be on January 11th. As for rehearsal space, two possible locations are being investigated.

The Pat Metheny piece mentioned on an earlier post, "The First Circle," has been ordered and parts are forthcoming. It's looking like the first set will probably be:

"In the Stone" by Earth, Wind and Fire

"The First Circle" by Pat Metheny

"Artemis and Apollo" by Johnny Richards

"Funky Cha Cha" by Arturo Sandoval

There's a lot to like in the above pieces and a good jazz work-out for all sections. "The First Circle" is an interesting piece, so listening to this piece a few times before rehearsals begin would be a wise idea. It's long and complicated, but this'll be a nice one to hammer out.

A good source for music is http://www.marinamusic.com/, which is very easily searchable by titles, composers, arrangers and keywords as well as browsable if other people are interested at finding charts they wish to work on. It also provides samples of all of the pieces listed above.

Some other charts under consideration for other sets, etc. are the following:

"Prodigal Son Revisited" by Wayne Horvitz

"Abstraktes Bild" (Abstract Image) by Fred Sturm

"Begin the Beguine" by Cole Porter, Doc Severinson Tonight Show version

The third charter listed above is more popular, but listen to the first two (or all three). These are tough, complex pieces and are going to need some work, but they're incredible charts.

Possible performance locations and dates are in discussion.

Any comments and questions are appreciated.

January 2010

The start of rehearsals for Jazz 4 Nothin' should begin in early to mid-January 2010. There are already a few charts at the medium-advanced to advanced level which are being looked at as a first set. They are the following:

The First Circle by Pat Metheny (http://www.marinamusic.com/detail.tpl?sku=D2372&show=res&cart=1258937147443848&keyword=the%20first%20circle&where=title&where1=comparr&where2=desc1&andor=wo&)

Artemis and Apollo by Johnny Richards (http://www.marinamusic.com/detail.tpl?sku=A3213&show=res&cart=1258937147443848&keyword=artemis%20and%20apollo&where=title&where1=comparr&where2=desc1&andor=wo&)

Funky Cha-Cha by Arturo Sandoval (http://www.marinamusic.com/detail.tpl?sku=A4201&show=res&cart=1258937147443848&keyword=funky%20cha%20cha&where=title&where1=comparr&where2=desc1&andor=wo&)

Please post comments with interest in other charts and links to samples if you know of them. Marina Music is a great resource to search for titles and listen to free mp3, as well as seeing the scoring, the range and the difficulty level.

Rehearsal space is still yet to be determined, but a few locations are being contacted at the present moment.

Welcome

Welcome to Jazz for Nothin', the blog for a new big band in the Bucks County area.