Mark Your Calendar! A-JAM Auditions - Monday and Tuesday Before Thanksgiving, Nov 20-21

Audition to become part of this year's A-JAM program! Make your appointment today. Auditions are the Monday and Tuesday before Thanksgiving. That's Nov 20-21, 2017. Contact Dr. Katchie Cartwright at 210-486-4828 for more information and to schedule your audition. Check our Facebook page and the Palmetto Arts calendar for breaking news...

Auditions are open to all fulltime students at any of the five Alamo Colleges and Trinity University.

Prerequisite: Successful completion of a college-level course in improvisation. You can be taking one this term, provided you pass the course. :-) If you're not currently enrolled, try to enroll in MUAP 1185: Private Improvisation for Flex II. There are multiple instructors for this course on multiple campuses within the Alamo Colleges system. Contact your music department chair or discipline coordinator for more information.

This year's IASJ international jazz meeting will be hosted by the Viljandi Culture Academy-Tartu University in Viljandi, Estonia. One lucky student will get to participate in this life-changing intercultural experience. It could be you this year!

 

Remember...

Auditions for the A-JAM program are held annually--the week before Thanksgiving--by appointment only. To join A-JAM in the spring term, you must have successfully completed a basic course in improvisation, which is offered in the fall semester.

Prepare: 2 contrasting jazz pieces of your choice

Bring: 3 copies of your written music (lead sheets, C-concert)

Scales/arpeggios: Major and minor, all keys

Sightreading: chordal (lead sheet), rhythmic, and melodic

 

Mark Your Calendar! A-JAM Auditions - Week Before Thanksgiving, Nov 16-19

Audition to become part of the 2016 A-JAM program! Make your appointment today. Auditions are the week before Thanksgiving. That's Nov 16-19, 2015. Call Katchie Cartwright at 210-486-4828 for more information or to schedule your audition. Check our Facebook page for breaking news...

Auditions are open to all fulltime students at any of the five Alamo Colleges and Trinity University.

Prerequisite: Successful completion of a college-level course in improvisation. You can be taking one this term, provided you pass the course. :-) If you're not currently enrolled, try to enroll in MUAP 1185: Private Improvisation for Flex II. There are multiple instructors for this course on multiple campuses within the Alamo Colleges system. Contact your music department chair or discipline coordinator for more information.

This year's IASJ international jazz meeting will be hosted by the exciting and relatively new Berklee Global Jazz Institute. One lucky student will get to participate in this life-changing intercultural experience. It could be you this year!

 

Remember...

Auditions for the A-JAM program are held annually--the week before Thanksgiving--by appointment only. To join A-JAM in the spring term, you must have successfully completed a basic course in improvisation, which is offered in the fall semester. Contact Katchie for further information on A-JAM audition requirements and dates.

Prepare: 2 contrasting jazz pieces of your choice

Bring: 3 copies of your written music (lead sheets, C-concert)

Scales/arpeggios: Major and minor, all keys

Sightreading: chordal (lead sheet), rhythmic, and melodic

 

AUDITIONS - Audition Assessment Criteria 2014/2015

Wondering how judges assess your audition performance? For academic year 2014/15, A-JAM is using rubrics designed by the Massachusetts Music Educators Association. They are very clear and specific. You may view and download the adjudication forms here. There are separate forms for jazz saxes and brass, drum kit, and rhythm section instruments.

Glancing at these simple one-page forms may help you prepare for your audition. But, as you know, the main thing is to come in prepared and try to let your enjoyment of the music shine through.

If you're grappling with audition anxiety, and even if you're not, I'd highly recommend looking at Gerald Klickstein's wonderful book, "The Musician's Way." It's beautifully written and full of wisdom. And he has a free resource site: http://www.musiciansway.com/

Don't forget to breathe! Ahhhhh.....

 

Jazz Contrafacts - More Than Just Rhythm!

What's a contrafact? "In jazz, a melody built upon the chord progression of another piece (after contrafactum, in medieval and Renaissance music." - Grove Music Online (Oxford Music Online)

Many bebop and other types of contrafacts are based on very popular tunes from earlier eras. If you're developing jazz repertoire, it's a good idea to learn the original melodies as well as the contrafact compositions.

The most famous example is the entire genre we call "rhythm changes". These are all contrafacts on Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm." There are hundreds of examples.

To get started, check out this useful little list of jazz contrafacts from Wikipedia.

For example, Dizzy Gillespie's "Groovin' High" is based on Vincent Rose's "Whispering. There are scores of others. Check them out!

Some YouTube clips...
Here's a classic performance of "Groovin' High" by Charlie Parker and Gillespie in 1945.  Here's "Whispering" from Red Nichols and His Five Pennies in 1928. A beautiful vocal version of "Whispering" from Harry Belafonte. And a twangy and fun instrumental of "Whispering" from Les Paul and Mary Ford in 1951. Top it off with a quodlibet of "Groovin' High" and "Whispering" together with Phil Woods, Frank Wess, and Jon Faddis with the Barcelona Big Band. (And what's a quodlibet? You can look that one up yourself! :-)

MUAP 1185: IMPROVISATION I

CRN: 19736, 19737, 19738, 19739 or 19740

Tuesdays 5-5:50 PM, Palmetto Rehearsal Hall 152

Contact  dsmith1@alamo.edu

A-JAM ALLSTARS... Are YOU the next generation? Register now for A-JAM PREP, fall 2012.

Hey! This is for real. For research from Johns Hopkins on how jazz grows your brain, read this... 

Mentorship Program Audition Materials - Download the IASJ Top 10

Click here to download the entire packet of audition materials as a single PDF.  Contents are below.  You can print out selected pages or the full packet. You pick 3 of these for your audition. Online application is here.

ALAMO COLLEGES JAZZ ALLSTARS MENTORSHIP PROGRAM

AUDITION MATERIALS – IASJ TOP 10 (2010)

1.       Blues

a.       Now’s the Time   F

b.      Centerpiece  C

2.       Rhythm changes

a.       I Got Rhythm  G

b.      I’ve Got Rhythm (truncated)  Bb

c.       Errand Girl for Rhythm  F

d.      Oleo  Bb

3.       All the Things You Are  Eb, Ab

4.       Stella by Starlight F, Bb

5.       There Will Never Be Another You Bb, Eb

6.       Body and Soul Ab, Db

7.       Autumn Leaves   Cm, Em

a.       French lyrics, translation

8.       Have You Met Miss Jones  C, F

9.       Footprints Cm

10.   Softly as in a Morning Sunrise  Am, Gm, Cm

ADDITIONAL SELECTIONS - FROM IASJ TOP 10 (2000)

1.       Green Dolphin Street G, C

2.       All Blues G, Eb

3.       There is no Greater Love  G, Bb

4.       Solar  Eb

5.       [All of Me G, C]

IASJ Top 10 - YouTube

The IASJ Top 10 are your "school figures," as they say in ice skating; your required jazz standards. When you apply for the program, you will select from among these to perform at your audition. See the online application for details.

Below are links to a few good performances of the IASJ Top 10 tunes on YouTube. There are tons more! Enjoy and learn...

1. 12-bar blues (various tunes and keys, minor and major)
1. Centerpiece
1. Coleman Hawkins et al, quintessential phrasing!
2. Lambert, Hendricks & Ross 
3. Instructional, with Lenora Zenzalai Helm
4. Master Class, with Roseanna Vitro
5. Roberta Gambarini 
2. Now's the Time
1. Charlie Parker and Miles Davis, 1945
2. Miles Davis solo, with notation
3. Parker at the Roost, 1948-9
4. Vi Redd, vocal
2. I Got Rhythm changes (various tunes and keys, including original)
1. Oleo - Miles Davis Quintet, featuring Sonny Rollins
2. Errand Boy for Rhythm - Nat Cole
3. Errand Girl for Rhythm - Diana Krall
4. I Got Rhythm - Gershwin plays
5. I Got Rhythm - Hiromi
6. I Got Rhythm - Judy Garland
3. All the Things You Are
1. Ella Fitzgerald - Nelson Riddle arrangement
2. Django Reinhardt
3. Baden Powell
4. Charlie Parker
4. Stella by Starlight
1. Sarah Vaughan
2. Miles Davis
3. Bill Evans
4. Stan Getz
5. There Will Never Be Another You
1. Chet Baker
2. Oscar Peterson
3. Bud Powell
4. Nat Cole
6. Body and Soul
1. Coleman Hawkins
2. Billie Holiday
3. Ella Fitzgerald
4. Anita O'Day
7. Autumn Leaves
1. Nat Cole - in French with lyrics on screen
2. Cannonball Adderley, Miles Davis
3. Joe Pass with Sarah Vaughan
4. Bill Evans
8. Have You Met Miss Jones?
1. Anita O'Day [start listening ca. 2:00]
2. Ella Fitzgerald
3. Hank Jones (master class)
4. Art Tatum )
9. Footprints
1. Wayne Shorter
2. Gabriel Alegria (Afro-Peruvian version)
3. Young Israeli students (pop-ish version)
4. Rajdulari Jazz Project (with Dee Dee Bridgewater's lyrics)
10. Softly as in a Morning Sunrise
1. Dianne Reeves - with improvised "welcome" intro
2. Nelson Eddy
3. Sonny Rollins
4. John Coltrane

Titles from the earlier list (2000, Paris).

1. All Blues
1. Miles Davis
2. Ernestine Anderson
2. There Is No Greater Love
1.  Billie Holiday 
2.  Sonny Rollins
3. Solar
1.  Miles Davis
4. [All of Me]
1.  Billie Holiday
2. Sarah Vaughan
3. Duke Ellington

"Rhythm Changes" - Tunes based on "I Got Rhythm"

#2 on the "IASJ's Top 10" is the harmonic scheme of George Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm."  There are hundreds of tunes based on this chord structure. Below are some lists of tunes with "Rhythm changes."

1. David Baker's list from his excellent book "How to Learn Tunes"
2. List of Rhythm tunes in the "Real Book" from Learn Jazz Standards
3. Long list from Kimberly Stephan
4. Jamey Aebersold's Rapid-Reference Play-a-Long Song Index (download as Excel spreadsheet or PDF, search for "Rhythm")
5. List of Charlie Parker's "Rhythm" and blues tunes
6. "Rhythm Changes" resources on Bob Keller's Jazz Page
7. List from Saxontheweb  (see comments as well; some tunes listed are NOT Rhythm changes, e.g., "Perdido")
8. List from MoneyChords 
9. Bass perspectives on Rhythm variations from John Goldsby

New goodies at katchie.com - sheet-music, mp3 of the Allstars!

Several new goodies have been posted on the Alamo Allstars page at katchie.com, including:

• Sheet music for several more blues songs, with links to videos of classic performances
• Sheet music for additional "I Got Rhythm" songs
• Mp3 of the 2010/2011 performing live in the KRTU studios as part of the South Texas Jazz Project, hosted by JJ Lopez.

Check it out and enjoy!