Next Practice and Meeting Tonight

Hello! I hope everyone had a good Memorial Day Holiday, but as usual, next week will be back to work. We only have two practices left before we play at the 263 Marketplace, and very soon you will receive the order for the set list for that performance. Keep working on Malaga, Moanin' and take a good look at Sing, Sing, Sing (both parts). It's been a while since we've played that one.

Also, tonight is a special night as Music 4 Nothin' will hold its first General Assembly and elect the first Executive Board of that group. This is the umbrella not-for-profit corporation that is in charge of all the administrative affairs of Jazz 4 Nothin', The 4 Nothin' Symphony, and the soon-to-be Choir 4 Nothin.' Music 4 Nothin' will worry about logistics so musicians don't have to, as well as create a network of support across all three groups for all the subgroups that operate under its name. So, tonight is a historic moment in its existence as well as an important one for Jazz 4 Nothin'. If you want information on Music 4 Nothin', contact that leadership at music4nothin@gmail.com.

But back to band business - after the June 19th performance we will be getting ready for the July 21sst performance outside the Court Houes during the summer band series in Doylestown, and it is in the works for the group to perform at the Warminster Triennial - stay tuned.

Rehearsal Tonight, and Long Time No Update

Hey everybody! Sorry that it has been such a long while since the blog has been updated. Well, there is rehearsal tonight, and we will be working on:

The Blue Book
Sing, Sing, Sing, Sing, Sing, Sing (if you get my drift)
Theme from Sesame Street
Nostalgia in Times Square
Rhythm of Our World

Really concentrate on the older numbers on the Blue Book and pay careful attention to articulations and dyanmics. They're very important in these pieces (as they are in all music), but it's apparent when they're not being followed. Let's give these older charts the respect they deserve. See you tonight!

Practice Monday!

Hello everybody! I hope everyone's looking forward to practice on Monday - I know I will be. We will be continuing more work revisiting Begin the Beguine, and expect to hit some of the First Circle again with full rhythm section.

We will also be working on the new charts. Sing, Sing, Sing sounded great at the last practice, so that one is almost ready to go.

On a side note, for those who are not on facebook, there was a message posted just relaying the info that Sierra Music Publications (www.sierramusic.com) has just revealed the second batch of new publications for 2010 of awesome, blow-your-face-off, advanced charts. Check them out. I'm particularly liking "Frame for the Blues" by Slide Hampton. And if you didn't hear the first batch and you have some free time to listen to some awesome, revitalized music, you should do so.

See everyone on Monday, and enjoy the rest of this beautiful weekend (thus far).

Practice Recap: 12 July 2010

Hey everybody! Great job at practice last night. We continued with some great work on Nostalgia in Times Square, Sing Sing Sing, and Rhythm Of Our World. The latter is the toughest piece we have that we're working on at the moment, with the exception being that we will be diving back into The First Circle and cleaning that one up until it's absolutely solid - another big task.

So, while you're practicing this week, make sure you focus on Rhythm. We will probably go back to Theme from Sesame Street next week two, so it's definitely something to look through at some point.

Again, there is no performance on Thursday, so unless you're playing elsewhere (which it is known that some of you are) or are playing the Summer Band Concert Series in Doylestown, have a happy time focusing on a few charts. And remember, as to active rehearsing, In the Stone, Samba Ti Kaye and Ride the Wind are now on the retired list - we may bring them out again if we have long performances and need more pieces that we know, but they're not the ones to concentrate on right now.

Who knows if The First Circle and Malaguena will ever be retired. It doesn't seem like that... they're just.... beyond it...

Have a good week, and see you at the next practice! :)

Practice Recap: 24 May 2010

Hey guys - good job at practice last night. I know it's been a long weekend for some and an even longer weekend for others, especially those who play and practice with other jazz groups. However, I really think we got some positive work done last night, regardless of the long weekend prior to rehearsal.

It's unnecessary to chat much about what needs to get done; I think we all know what needs to be worked on in the individual parts. There's a lot of technical stuff for Sing, Sing, Sing and focus on articulations, dynamics, etc., for Begin the Beguine and Intersecting Lines. Plus now we have our heads around The Incredibles and we should all know how to practice accordingly.

Memorial Day is next Monday, May 31st, and as such (and especially after a poll at practice) it has been decided that there will be no practice next week. So enjoy the holiday, get some work done on your parts on your own, and we will resume practices on Monday, June 7th. That being said, do not hesitate to bring up any questions or concerns about the music over the next two weeks.

It was also mentioned at practice that there is some interest in three specific pieces, and they are:

1. Channel One Suite by Buddy Rich Band
2. Prodigal Son Revisited by Wayne Horvitz
3. Nostalgia in Times Square by Charles Mingus.

I foresee a vote in the future for one of these charts (though this is not an exclusive list), and will be posting links to sample recordings soon. Please take the time to listen to the pieces over the next couple of weeks and decide which one you like most (though they are all awesome). The change jar is almost there for a new chart...

Rehearsal Tonight and Performance Recap

Great job last evening at Southampton! The small audience was extremely appreciative of the music, and there is no doubt in my mind that those who left after William Tennent played are hearing from friends that they really should have stuck around one more half hour... Anyway, I've only heard compliments about the performance, and we played some great (emphasis on great in the sense of masterpiece) charts, and there's really nothing better than that. As Pete said in a facebook post a few hours ago, this music is a total joy.

At any rate, there is practice tonight and we will be putting together all the work we've done on Begin the Beguine and Intersecting Lines, as well as diving into The Incredibles and Sing, Sing, Sing (both parts).

See you all at practice tonight, and if I was amazed at the performance yesterday, I am psyched for rehearsal wen we get to lock in all that hard work we've been doing the last couple of weeks on the new charts.

:)

Practice Tonight!

Hey everybody! This is the last practice before the Southampton Jazz performance on Sunday evening, so please make sure that you have the older charts and the newer ones in your folder. It would be nice to fix a couple of things in some pieces ("In the Stone", etc.) and review some others before we go back to work on the "Begin the Beguine." Also, I hope some of you have looked at "Sing, Sing, Sing" - we may be looking at some of that piece tonight.

Last week's practice was very good, and we just need the continual focus in order to work a lot of the key unison passages / coordinated phrases in these (mostly) medium-advanced - advanced charts. Having recently spoken with a number of people who have heard us play, they have specifically cited how they were impressed with the work ethic they could see in our faces while we were playing the music. One lady even came up and said something along the lines of, "Every face was absolutely concerned with the music. None were distracted and not doing the work. It was evident that all had worked hard and you can see it and you can hear it." (This was a review from the Duck Deli performance). Others have begun to compare us with other groups, saying that you can hear the difference between a group that really practices and one that just plays the music - they've greatly appreciated this. So thank you all for your hard work at practice in the past and in the future, and for all the work you do with the music outside of practice. This band can really make a difference.

On a side note, a few people in the band have let me know, positively, about their availability for July the 2nd. We will need to know by the end of the week if we have enough of a band around that day so that we can contact the organizers of First Friday and let them know if we can play for them or not. If you have time before practice tonight, please check your schedules for the holiday weekend.