Preparing for the Concert? Play Along

We're into dress rehearsals for the first annual NXNVC (North by Northwest Vista) festival, Monday, April 13 through Thursday, April 16, 2015. Four funfilled evenings of music by students, faculty, and guest artists. Jazz ensemble and student-led combos are up on Thursday night. Gourmet food truck. Looking forward to it!  For more information, visit this website: PalmettoArts.org.

After sufficient careful/mindful slow work  in the practice room or woodshed, a quick--and pleasurable--way to grab a few extra run-throughs is to play along with the arranging publisher's demo recordings. 

They're easy to find with the following BIG THREE search terms on Google: "song title in parentheses" "arranger name" and the word "listen." Voilà! The audio pops up first virtually every time.

Here are some of the tunes you'll hear us perform on Thursday. Play along if you're in the band!

"Bye Bye Blackbird," arranged by Dave Rivello (James Coleman, trumpet soloist)

"Gentle Rain," arranged by Kris Berg (Andrew King, alto saxophone soloist) 

"I Got Rhythm," arranged by Dave Wolpe (A-JAM honors student Thomas Mullins, trombone soloist) 

"Straighten Up and Fly Right," Wolpe (Alisa Cotto, vocal soloist)

"How High the Moon," Wolpe (trombone section feature)

Happy practicing. Break a leg!

Branford Marsalis - Performance & Master Class

If you missed the open rehearsal with YOSA (Youth Orchestra of San Antonio) or the master class at Ruth Taylor Recital Hall, or if you caught those and want to see the musician in action, come to the Tobin Center Sunday, February 22 at 7 PM. 

Students with valid ID get in for a mere five bucks. This is a chance to take in the splendor of our newest and most prestigious  performing arts venue while hearing a bonafide Jazz Master perform classical music composed for the jazz instrument par excellence, the saxophone. Don't miss it.

In a rambling but straight talking master class at Trinity University, New Orleans saxophonist  Branford Marsalis talked about his royal family and musical journey to an audience of enthralled students and teachers, including A-JAM trombonist Thomas Mullins, on Saturday, February 21.  

His talk was peppered with anecdotes and correctives, including facts about his family. People assume that the Marsalis dynasty is patrilineal, he said. But the musical genes are mainly on his mother's side, he explained. Wellman Braud, the distinguished bassist with Duke Ellington's band, was his mother's kin, for example. 

With so many musicians in his family, people sometimes imagine that it was a non-stop family jam session growing up. But no. With almost seven years between him and his younger brother, there was "no way" he was going to be jamming--in or out of the house--with a ten year-old when he was seventeen, despite what his parents might have wished.  But Branford and his distinguished brother Wynton Marsalis, who were much closer in age, did work and play together.  Growing up, Wynton worked hardest to become the amazing classical trumpeter that he continues to be to this day. If you're not familiar with this side of his work, check out his classical discography. But, of course, we all know him as the man who lead Lincoln Center to become the jazz bastion that it is today. And it was Wynton who first moved to New York, the jazz capitol, and persuaded Branford to join him, which he does not regret.

How to learn songwriting? "Learn every tune ever written," he said, then smiled. "It's all about melodies," he continued. When improvising, he's thinking of melodies, not simply chord progressions.

He doesn't aim to please an audience of 20-something people. Why? "My music is for adults," as he put it. It takes years to develop one's art and craft in jazz. One has to be willing to suffer "humiliation," but not to succumb to defeat; to admit that there are things to learn, and to keep on working to improve.

NEA Jazz Master, renowned Grammy Award®-winning saxophonist and Tony Award® nominee composer Branford Marsalis is one of the most revered instrumentalists of his time.  The three-time Grammy Award® winner has continued to exercise and expand his skills as an instrumentalist, a composer, and the head of Marsalis Music, the label he founded in 2002 that has allowed him to produce both his own projects and those of the jazz world’s most promising new and established artists.

Advice for young players?

"Advice for young cats?"

the old woman responded,

"Know all of your scales."

"But is that enough?" he asked.

"Learn all your tunes in all keys."

"It's Not About the Music" - The International Jazz Meeting

"...a documentary film about jazz education that's not about the music. It's a film about collaboration, creativity, and community; a film about sharing ideas across cultures, a film about the legacy that passes from generation to generation; a respect for the elders, and the hope that the younger generation will take that knowledge and pass it forward. David Liebman, who won the NEA Jazz Masters award in 2011, founded the IASJ [International Association of Schools of Jazz] about twenty years ago with the sole purpose of creating a forum for cross-cultural communication." - Leon Segal, filmmaker and psychologist.

If you're new to the A-JAM program and haven't yet seen the teaser for Leon Segal's documentary film on the IASJ's annual international jazz meeting, take five minutes to watch it now.

 Learn how this intercultural conference affect the lives, careers, and curricula of students, teachers, and schools; and the impact they have on local and global communities. Very inspiring! Could be YOU next year...

The International Jazz Meeting, a "Pearl Beyond Price" - Perspectives from Ronan Guilfoyle

"It's remarkable that jazz, as a means of human communication between people from different cultures, brings people together for a week in tremendous camaraderie and friendship. I think that's really a pearl beyond price..."

Watch this short and personal history of the International Association of Schools of Jazz (IASJ) from founding member artist-teacher and bassist Ronan Guilfoyle, head of the Newpark Music Centre in Dublin, Ireland. IASJ presents the annual intercultural and intergenerational jazz meeting that is the jewel in the crown of the A-JAM program.

"In twenty-three meetings, I've brought twenty-three students, and every one of those will tell you--have told me--that this was really a life-changing experience for them." 

A-JAM prepares young San Antonio musicians to enter the global jazz community, right at the top of the field. The international jazz meeting introduces our best students to their peers from all over the globe.  It's a game changer. Learn why and how it works...

As a founding member, Ronan has been to some twenty-three of the meetings. "In twenty-three meetings, I've brought twenty-three students, and every one of those will tell you--have told me--that this was really a life-changing experience for them." 

Speaking of memorable moments, "It's terribly difficult to pick just one moment, because there are so many moments...I remember particularly being in the United Nations building when the meeting was in New York, the Brazilian music we heard when it was in Sao Paulo, the South African music we heard...and, of course, tremendous performances..."

"It's incredible every year when you go to the meeting and you see the concerts by the students and you realize that--literally from all over the world--the music that they play after only four or five days of rehearsal is really extraordinary."

 

Thanks for your support!

A-JAM helps serious San Antonio students to succeed in the exciting global field of jazz. You can be a part of our success by contributing to the program financially. Your donations are tax deductible, and can be made through the Alamo Colleges Foundation online, via mail, or by phone. To contribute, call Lynne Dean at the Alamo Colleges Foundation, 210-486-4135 during business hours or email her at ldean12@alamo.edu. Tell her you want to contribute to the A-JAM fund, code 340005. She'll take care of everything.

Looking to help create unique opportunities for serious community college students?  Our program gives young San Antonio musicians skills, knowhow, and entry into the exciting intercultural and international world of jazz, right at the top of the field. Your contribution to our A-JAM mentorship fund ensures that this year's A-JAM honoree will be able to participate in the international intensive that is the capstone of our program. 

Endowed, the A-JAM fund sponsors--annually--one student to travel to the IASJ (International Association of Schools of Jazz) meeting. This global summit is a game changer for the individual student and for the local jazz culture. Over the past two decades, I've witnessed the change in communities near and far. The results run deep. 

Your contribution ensures the wherewithal to send students to places like Brazil (Jeané Gaines, 2011), Austria (Stephen Bennett, 2012), and Denmark (Odie Wallace, 2013) to perform and learn with peers from all over the globe. In 2014, the meeting was in Cape Town, South Africa, at the University of Cape Town. 

Exciting, isn't it?  How much money do we need? Costs vary, but an annual income of somewhere between $5,000 and $10,000 is ballpark. Not much in the grand scheme of things, is it?

Alamo Colleges music students thank you!

Enjoyable Warmup - (Rhythm and) Blues Exercise

Forty-four degrees Farenheit tonight in San Antonio. Perfect moment to share a warmup with you players of melodic instruments...

Bob Cranshaw

It gets the blood flowing and the keys knowing. It requires little or no reading, and a minimal amount of equipment: your instrument, a CD or mp3 and player, plus about 44 minutes of focused time.

Here's a link to purchase the CD or download the tracks from jazzbooks.com. It's Volume 42 of Jamey Aebersold's Play-a-Long series, "Blues in All Keys."  (We have several of these playalongs in the circulating collection of the library at Northwest Vista.) It comes with a booklet containing chord sheets for Eb, Bb, C, and bass clef instruments.

As its name would imply, the CD contains playalong tracks for blues progressions in 12 keys. They are performed by a trio of world class jazz musicians: James Williams at the piano, Bob Cranshaw on bass, and Mickey Roker on drums. Follow the links and look them up...

James Williams

The form and formula are simple. There is one basic progression and one variation of it.  These are played in each key; from 3-5 choruses for each progression. When you're in a particular key and it's time to move from the basic progression to its variation, listen for a little bell dinging during the last four bars of the form; you switch progressions at the top of the next form. You'll hear it...

So how to dig in? It's not as daunting as it may seem. Twelve keys, yes, but only one simple progression...

First, put the CD or mp3 into the player, turn to track #13 and tune your horn. Set it back to #1 and hit pause.

Second, get out the booklet and take the time to look at it. There's a discography and other items that may be of interest, along with the progression and its variation, written out in all twelve keys for C, Bb, Eb, and bass clef readers.

Mickey Roker

Third, analyze and memorize the progression. Yes, memorize the progression in at least two keys. Bb and C concert would be good choices. Play it at the piano.

Fourth, put on the first track and play along. Start simple if this is unfamiliar territory. Play roots in harmonic rhythm, guide tones, etc. (I have a checklist for learning new tunes that I can share with you if you email me.)

Finally, play through all of the keys before returning to the first track. This is a discipline. There are always things you can improve next time, but one of the main objects of this exercise is to gain fluency in all keys. You don't have to play all keys in one sitting at first, but make a note of which key you stopped on and resume with the next one at your next practice session. With practice, you will be able to play through all twelve keys in one sitting, one after the other. This only takes, as I said, about forty-five minutes.

My fearless prediction is that you will soon look forward to this as a daily exercise, finding it to be both relaxing and invigorating, satisfying and rewarding. Once you've memorized the progression, you can do it in the dark if you like. I use it as a way to center myself, as a kind of meditation on the blues... 

With mindful practice, you'll witness your facility with all keys growing and strengthening.  When you encounter these progressions in "real life" on the bandstand or in a session, this is likely to make it easier for you to play what you hear. Sounds like fun now, right? Let me know how it goes.

Note to multi-wind players--Play through the blues tracks on Bb, C, and Eb instruments alternately (and/or whatever other keys your horns are in). Your tonal relationship to the track will be different, which will probably change what you play. Record yourself...

Once more, with rhythm...

Once you're comfortable with the blues in all keys, try working similarly with Aebersold's I Got Rhythm Changes in All Keys (Volume 47).

Second only to the blues, "Rhythm" changes are the most popular form in jazz. Thousands of contrafacts have been written to this harmonic scheme.

Todd Coolman

As with the blues, once you've looked at the progression, don't read from it; analyze and memorize it. Pause the recording between tracks as necessary to recalculate the changes in the upcoming key. 

Unlike the Blues in All keys playalong, this volume doesn't have a voice reminding you of the new key. But the movement through keys has logic; starts in concert Bb, then goes to F. The remaining keys appear in circle-of-fourths order: Eb-Ab-Db, etc.

Jim McNeely

As always, check out the players you're practicing with! This playalong features bassist Todd Coolman, pianist Jim McNeely, and drummer Steve Davis.