Practice Tonight!

Hello everyone! There's practice tonight and there's exciting news: we have permission to do a sound check upstairs after the break in the place where we'll be playing the first performance. As far as I know at this moment (and that means at 8 AM this Monday morning), we are supposed to have a full saxophone section tonight, which means that the saxes will be working on "The First Circle" (the sax soli) while brass and percussion polish the hits in Samba, Stone and Circle. (Hmmm... maybe that should be the name of a piece.)

The horns are coming in again tonight and will not be here the following week, so this is really the week to lay down some polish on Malaguena. We will be doing that upstairs (if all goes well) while we perform the sound check. So let's keep the focus and energy up that we've happily had for the last few weeks and get psyched for the first performance which is now less than two weeks away!

Oh, and did I mention? The people of St. Paul's are starting to learn that there's a special band playing at the Intermission of the Talent Show. And they're getting curious... :)

Practice Tonight: 22 March 2010

Hey everybody! It's exciting to get back to full practices this week and I can't wait to see (and hear) everybody. The horns will be coming in to work Malaguena with us at 8, and from 7-8 we will be polishing the other charts (especially trying to piece together the whole of "The First Circle."

So let's stay focused at practice tonight as there are only three more practices (including this one) before our very first performance.

Oh, and we've been invited to play another gig in a month and a half or so. We'll discuss it tonight. :)

Trombone Sectional: Recap

I would just like to state for the record how very pleased I am with how the trombone sectional went on Monday the 15th, the "Ides of March." Et tu, Brute? lol

Anyway, I lot of great was done with that section and I think we can all look forward to an awesome practice on Monday. We should have a few people sitting in who just want to listen as well as some for whom this will be their first time. Let's all be welcoming. We're going to continue work on "The First Circle" and horns will be coming in again for Malaguena in the second half of practice.

And remember, we play this music to challenge ourselves and bring better jazz back to our community, but at the same time we are playing to have fun. So let's continue with the fun and hard work at the same time, because those that work hard, play hard.

See you all next week!

Rehearsal Monday: Trombone Sectional

Hey everybody! I know at the end of practice last week we discussed the possibility of using the practice time this upcoming Monday for sectionals, and that is in fact what we will be doing with the trombones. The reasoning behind this is that a few of our members are on spring break and a good number expressed that they either could not or might not make practice this upcoming week. Also, regardless to the latter, we'd be out a drummer.

Anyone is welcome to sit in on the reduced practice, which again, is a trombone sectional, but to everyone else: enjoy the week off. Practice on the 22nd is a big one, in which we hope to have all horns present and at that point we will only be three practices away from our first performance.

See you all on Monday, March 22nd. :)

New Chart Ideas - Summer 2010

Alright, here are some of the charts that are under heavy consideration for the next set. Remember, a set has to have balance. There is solid reasoning as to why "In the Stone" is the opener for the current set and "Malaguena" is the closer. Why the ballad, "Ride the Wind," is the penultimate chart - ballads are typically placed there. We can mess with the set order a bit, but there should be an introductory, almost pop-like piece as an opener, and the "blow your face off" stuff should be kept in reserve for the finale. So, look at the titles below and comment on this post or on the Facebook Wall for the group as to more ideas if you want to add something, and we'll probably start ordering new charts very soon so we're not just handing out something in May to learn by July. But at any rate, here's what's being discussed as possibilities for the summer:

"Sing, Sing, Sing (Parts I and II)"
This would probably comprise in a metaphorical five-piece set the first two charts. I really can't stress enough about the tragedy that part II is never played in favor of just doing one part (part I) because it's more popular. Since when has music become a popularity contest? ::Ellen DeGeneres sticks her head in here to listen:: If we want to do "Sing, Sing, Sing," we must insist on both parts. And Part II has awesome written solo work for tenor and trumpet, not to mention clarinet and drum solos continuing. Not to mention the fact that both parts were conceived as one entire chart, and the only reason they were broken up is because the first records had to be flipped over to side B in order to get to the second part.

Link to recording: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtB6dijjWl8

"Malaga" by Bill Holman, as played by Stan Kenton Orch.

Link to recording: http://www.tuxjunction.net/jb32.htm (scroll down to bottom of the page to find the full 1972 recording of Malaga)

"Samba Siete" by Hank Levy

Link to recording: http://www.sierramusicstore.com/Samba_Siete_p/smp-645.htm
(click "listen to sample mp3")

"Abstrakte Bilde" by Fred Sturm

Link to recording: fan the Facebook page (look to the Facebook group for instructions)

"Intersecting Lines" by Les Hooper

Link to recording: http://www.marinamusic.com/detail.tpl?sku=A2519&show=res&cart=1268278477773818&keyword=intersecting%20lines&where=title&where1=comparr&where2=desc1&andor=wo&

"Prodigal Son Revisited" by Wayne Horvitz

Link to recording: http://www.marinamusic.com/detail.tpl?sku=W0003&show=res&cart=1268278477773818&keyword=prodigal%20son%20revisited&where=title&where1=comparr&where2=desc1&andor=wo&

"Follow Me" by Pat Metheny/Lyle Mays, arr. Bob Curnow

Link to recording: http://www.marinamusic.com/detail.tpl?sku=A0136&category=Metheny%2C%20Pat&type=Jazz%20Ensemble%20%28Big%20Band%29&nav=F&cart=1268278477773818&

"Satin Doll"

"Artemis and Apollo" by Johnny Richards, trans. Bob Curnow

"Georgia On My Mind" as sung by Ella Fitzgerald, and yes, if you don't already know it, we do have a pro. vocalist in the group...

"Send in the Clowns" by Sondheim as arr. for Stan Kenton Orch. by Maynard Ferguson

"Fly Me to the Moon" as played by Doc Severinson

"Funky Cha Cha" by Arturo Sandoval

"Ebony Concerto" by Igor Stravinsky

I'll be updating this post with links to recordings that can be found online. Please go through these carefully and really think about what you like

Practice Recap: 8 March 2010

Great job last night! I think we only have a few key issues remaining with some of the charts. I'll go through them one by one, and of course we didn't work "In the Stone" last night, but here's what-is-up with the rest of them.

"Ride the Wind" - keeping the motion during the solo section seems to be the most difficult part. Right now we're barreling through it to get through it and keep the piece moving, but there has to be a way, either structurally or otherwise to get that to push the tempo as much as the rest of the piece does.

"Samba Ti Kaye" - it's all intonation and accuracy from here on out. The dynamics were much improved last night as well as the articulations. And of course figuring precisely how we're going to do the ending.

"The First Circle" - tacking on the first six bars and running it to the end. Listen carefully to the recording. Clean individual parts. In the meantime, we have to devote practice to balancing the whole parts and working in the clapping section at the beginning, which we did a little bit of last night. The coordination of this piece is the ultimate key for surviving it.

"Malaguena" - This is really getting sharp. I am going to make a post about which measures specifically the mellophoniums have the melody, and then if you want to follow your parts to the audio recordings on facebook or the Stan Kenton video recordings from the 60's try to listen in on what they're doing. It's more difficult to make that part stand out as they are actual french horns and not mellophoniums so their bells are facing back towards the trumpets. We have to compensate for that and be conscientious. There's parts where they're unison with everyone (ex. swing section) but there are also parts (especially near the beginning) we're they're constantly trading eighth-note, arpeggiated runs and the piece would really rock if that comes out. Otherwise, great job on control and dynamics, and trumpets were much more on pitch for those fanfares that we worked last week. This is quite the closer.

I'll be posting about the ideas for the summer charts next including the ones that were discussed after practice last night by the nine of us or so who continued to chill. We'll be spending some of next week and time throughout this week seeing how much of the band prefers certain charts over others.

Upcoming Practice: Monday, 8 March 2010

Hey everybody! Looking forward to the next practice, especially since the trombones have had their first official sectional. Isn't that awesome? We'll be getting back to work on "The First Circle" and we will have French Horns there for the second half of practice to run "Malaguena."

Bad weather seems to have passed by the area this weekend, so we're really lucking out. Of all the music rehearsals that have been messed up or postponed by weather in the area, we have been the only group unimpeded by having Monday night practices. (Jeez, I hope I didn't just jinx that, lol). Anyway, I hope everyone is enjoying this lovely March weekend, and see you all at practice in two days.

Make it Shine!

Great job at practice last night. We got a lot of work done of the kind which pays off in the long run. Fixing the little lines, the hits, the fanfares. In Malaguena trumpets have those huge perfect fifth fanfares. They're so easy to pull out of tune and to destroy by reckless timing or attacks. Last night was the best we all heard that part. Precision, precision, precision. If five trumpets (and it makes sense why there's an odd number of trumpets for that piece) can balance correctly, hit the notes with absolute precision and be in tune, there will be no better trumpet section playing anything in this area.

We have to push the tempo and stay on top of it. Samba Ti Kaye (last night) was the best we'd heard it from all the practices, and it was because of a decent amount of cleaning throughout, especially meas. 108, and because of the control of the tempo by pushing it. Now we just have to cut the volume and add back in the dynamics. The rest is there, though.

Ride the Wind is pushing the tempo, but it's also phrasing. There's a lot of room to experiment with this piece - it's a new one, it's the original version. I really like what we did dynamically in creating huge "phrase sweeps" (that's the only way I can describe it) that dominate; that's really the essence of the piece. The way the piece is structured - it's so lyrical. It's really a gem and probably will be played a lot in the coming years as it gets ordered and has more performances.

The First Circle we will be working on again next week since we did a lot of cleaning with the other charts next week. Listen to the recording(s) of First Circle. Apply the work done last night, the precision and control, while you practice The First Circle. If we can all do that, we will succeed in playing the whole thing through at the next practice. I do believe that.

Count Basie once said a great thing about this music, about polishing it and the feel and the phrasing. He said, "I, of course, wanted to play real jazz. When we played pop tunes, and naturally we had to, I wanted those pops to kick! Not loud and fast, understand, but smoothly and with a definite punch."

A definite punch. I like that.

Practice Tonight: 03/01/10

Hey everybody! There's practice tonight and the plan is to clean up the pieces. We'll be working on getting the polish and balance down of Ride the Wind, In the Stone and Samba Ti Kaye. We'll also be working specific sections of Malaguena and First Circle.

Great job last week and looking forward to continued focus in the coming weeks. Only about five practices before the first performance so let's really make them count.

Performance list:

Sunday, April 11th (~5PM call time): Talent Show Intermission
Sunday, May 2nd (mid-afternoon): Duck Deli Jazz Festival
Sunday, May 23rd: Southampton Jazz Festival