Instructions for Voting: Round Two

Okay, it's that time again. Time to VOTE! The three selections for charts are "Nostalgia in Times Square" by Charles Mingus, "Channel One Suite" by Buddy Rich, and "Sesame Street" as performed by Maynard Ferguson. If you are looking for sample recordings of these pieces, there are links on a post below (scroll down on the blog) and check them out.

The polls are posted on the right sidebar beneath "About the Band." Each person is allowed to vote for charts ONCE. (Got that, Andrew? - no shenanigans from the trombones for the Mingus...) The polls will close at 8:00 AM on Tuesday morning, June 22nd, so you have a week to submit your vote.

The chart(s) selected will be purchased using the Change 4 Charts jar. And I say chart(s), as if it is a close race, there is the possibility of the runner-up being ordered as well. But this is just a possibility.

Looking ahead, there is still a lot to do before holiday music in the winter. The fall will consist of the some of the pieces we have already done, but polished, and some we have not done that we have - Work Song and Rhythm of Our World. If that impacts the way you vote, that is up to you. Otherwise, just pick the piece you like the most, and if you don't get the one you like, you can know that the process has been a democratic one. And don't despair, as Winston Churchill so perfectly stated, "democarcy is the worst form of government in world. Except for all the others that came before it."

But to be honest, these are ALL great charts. You know you're selecting from some of the top of the line. And we already play Malaguena...

Happy voting! :)

Rehearsal Tonight!

Hey everybody! This is just a short reminder that there is practice tonight, and that you should have all of your music as usual to prepare for July 2nd.

Let's keep the focus up, follow the constructive criticism throughout practice, and if we can concentrate hard on attention to detail throughout the next few weeks, the music is going to sound really great on the 2nd.

See you all tonight. :)

Change 4 Charts: The Pieces...

Okay, it's that time again. Time to vote on another chart. Through multiple discussions at practice and online, it has been determined that a vote should be had deciding between three charts. And they are...

"Nostalgia in Times Square" by Charles Mingus
http://www.marinamusic.com/detail.tpl?sku=M1001&show=res&cart=12762463323767453&keyword=nostalgia%20in%20times%20square&where=title&where1=comparr&where2=desc1&andor=wo&

"Channel One Suite" by Buddy Rich
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEST1Qcsq1I

"Theme From Sesame Street" as performed by Maynard Ferguson, arr. Dennis DiBlasio, adapted by Bob Lowden

The links below the pieces lead to samples so that you may listen to the charts prior to voting. Sesame Steet has many online recordings, though most may already know this piece. The actual voting will occur soon.

Practice Tomorrow

Hello everybody! Just a reminder that there's practice tomorrow and we will be working on the pieces that we will be playing on July 2nd, so just make sure you have all of your music with you.

Not much else to say at this point, except that a vote is coming shortly for ordering a new chart, while in the meantime we continue to work hard on the ones that we have. So see you all at practice tomorrow, and hoping that you had a fun week off.

Memorial Day

Hey everybody! Just a reminder that there's no practice on Memorial Day, so work on individual parts at home over the next week, and we will resume practice on Monday, June 7th.

Also, the performance for First Friday in July (Friday, July 2nd) is confirmed, so mark your calendars that we will be playing outside in Doylestown right in front of Starbucks from 8-9 PM. We will be going through a lot of our charts and performing some of the ones we have been working on over the last few weeks (Begin the Beguine, etc....).

Have a great holiday, stay safe and healthy, and see you all on June 7th.

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.

:)

Southampton Jazz Festival

The Southampton Jazz Festival is scheduled for this Sunday, May 23rd and the details are as follows:

The call time for band members (excluding the french horns) is 4:15 PM. This gives us ample time to check the set-up, warm-up at the school and be ready to get on stage after William Tenant High School's band. The call time for french horns is 4:45 PM. The address for the festival location is on the information sidebar of the blog if you need it for GPS etc., though some have already played at this location before. Furthermore, should it rain, the festival will be held inside the Klinger Middle School Auditorium, and the same schedule will be used for that day.

Dress is the same as the Duck Deli; solid colors and black. Though I expect that we will be able to make use of Klinger's music stands and that they will already be on stage for the other bands, please bring your own music stand and have it in the car just in case. The rhythm section will worry about rhythm section setup. I know that there will be two microphones for soloists on stage, and a wireless microphone for announcements and vocal solos for the festival.

The festival begins at 3 o'clock, and this is the schedule:

3 PM - Southampton Community Big Band
3:30 PM - Klinger Middle School Jazz Band
4 PM - Log College Middle School Jazz Band
4:30 PM - William Tennent High School Jazz Band
5 PM - Jazz 4 Nothin'

Please have all the charts that we played at the Duck Deli ready to perform in the same order for this festival. There should be some seating at the festival, but if you have family, friends or other guests attending, it might be wise to have a few blankets or fold-up chairs in the car. However, based on another performance I've seen there, there will probably be bleachers set up on which the audience can sit.

This should be a good performance for us and allows us to branch out from the Doylestown area. And remember, with a lot of middle school and high school music students in the audience, it's important to remind them in any way we can that jazz music is awesome, the big band is back, and it's here to stay.

See you all at Southampton! :)

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.

Sing, Sang, Shipped!

So, here's an update: new charts are on their way! The books which contain the full "Sing, Sing, Sing" have been ordered, as well as "Georgia on My Mind," and... well, let's leave that last one as a mystery for practice on Monday night. A few people know what it is, though, and they're excited. Because it's fun.

Change 4 Charts is responsible for the purchase of the books containing "Sing, Sing, Sing" and a lot of other filler charts that will no doubt be useful at some point in the future. "Sing, Sing, Sing" had the highest number of votes from all members on the blog for which charts we wanted to do, and it felt appropriate that the change jar went towards that chart.

At any rate, there's practice on Monday, so keep working on "Begin the Beguine" and "Intersecting Lines." I am floored that we got both numbers off the ground so quickly on Monday, and yes, they were rough and we're going to have to put a lot of time in on them - but it was awesome nonetheless. I know that some were shocked that we made it through those pieces on the first night - a pleasant surprise, but a shocking one.

Have a good weekend all, and get ready for the next practice. We all know on an individual basis what has to get done now for the music.