Okay, so it's going to snow tonight, but it's still spring break, which led me to think about the concept of spring in music...
In 1725, Antonio Vivaldi published a series of violin concertos (violin solos with orchestral accompaniment) called The Four Seasons, of which "Spring" is very well known. We use a snippet of it in Music Theory class when we practice analyzing the elements of music:
Several jazz standards have the title spring: "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most," "Up Jumped Spring," "It Might as Well Be Spring," and my personal favorite, "Joy Spring" by Clifford Brown:
A classic Pat Metheny tune from the 1970s is titled "April Joy."
One of the pieces we played in Disney was Chen Yi's Spring Festival, a combination of traditional Chinese folksong and modern western classical music.
Rite of Spring, Igor Stravinsky's famous "primitivist" ballet about virgin sacrifice in ancient pagan Russia, caused a riot at its premiere in Paris in 1913:
In pop music, you can listen to music by Buffalo Springfield and Rick Springfield. Or, you can go straight to The Boss, Bruce Springsteen:
Happy Spring Break!
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Take two arias and call me in the morning...
Throughout history, people have believed that music has the power to cure all manners of ailments. In biblical times, King Saul ordered David to play his lyre to sooth his anxiety and stress. Traditional Native American healing rituals have always included singing as a primary component. Then there is English playwright William Congreve who famously wrote, "Music has charms to soothe the savage breast."
Today there is the field of music therapy, whose practitioners offer improved quality of life to patients with issues such as physical disabilities, brain injuries, and Alzheimer's disease. Over 70 American universities offer approved degree programs in the field. However, Austrian musician Vera Brandes has taken this practice a step further, as can be seen in this interesting article in the New York Times. Ms. Brandes believes that she can prescribe music the way doctors prescribe traditional medicines, sending patients home with an iPod of specially chosen music to help treat psychosomatic disorders, pain, anxiety, depression, insomnia, and certain types of arrhythmia.
Researchers are only just now understanding the effects of music on the brain, so it isn't so far-fetched to think that specific types of music can improve an individual's well-being. What do our readers think? Does anyone have any examples of the healing power of music? Please share them in the comments section. And might I prescribe for everyone a dose of John Coltrane's A Love Supreme for whatever ails you...
Today there is the field of music therapy, whose practitioners offer improved quality of life to patients with issues such as physical disabilities, brain injuries, and Alzheimer's disease. Over 70 American universities offer approved degree programs in the field. However, Austrian musician Vera Brandes has taken this practice a step further, as can be seen in this interesting article in the New York Times. Ms. Brandes believes that she can prescribe music the way doctors prescribe traditional medicines, sending patients home with an iPod of specially chosen music to help treat psychosomatic disorders, pain, anxiety, depression, insomnia, and certain types of arrhythmia.
Researchers are only just now understanding the effects of music on the brain, so it isn't so far-fetched to think that specific types of music can improve an individual's well-being. What do our readers think? Does anyone have any examples of the healing power of music? Please share them in the comments section. And might I prescribe for everyone a dose of John Coltrane's A Love Supreme for whatever ails you...
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Disney, Part Two
I finally feel like I've caught up on my sleep after what was an exhausting but very memorable trip to Orlando. After an easy flight (much better than the 9-hour delay fiasco of 2005), we set off on Saturday morning for our day of performances in the park. Here was our set list:The Sinfonians, a concert march by Clifton Williams
Alligator Alley, a programmatic piece about alligators and hunters by Michael Daugherty
Lyric Music, a melodic solo trumpet feature with several exciting climaxes and wonderful scoring by Robert Starer
Spring Festival, a merging of a traditional Chinese folk song with contemporary western classical techniques by Chen Yi
Rio Con Brio, a lively dance number that uses Brazilian rhythms and instruments by Hugh Stuart
The last work garnered a standing ovation from our hometown crowd. The various percussion accessories included reco-reco (a scraper), pandeiro (a type of tambourine), double samba shaker, tamborim (a very small frame drum), claves, maracas, guiro, and timbales. We also had an apito (tri-tone samba whistle) soloist. Granted, the music wasn't truly authentic, but it gave us a chance to spend time in class listening to and discussing some real samba music from the Carnaval scene in Brazil.
After our performance, we watched the orchestra and choir. Both groups were wonderful, especially the chamber orchestra's choreographed, "strolling strings" version of "Sing, Sing, Sing" complete with gymnastics. That evening we enjoyed the dance company and Choraliers in their performances. All total, we gave five concerts between 10:00 am and 7:00 pm, monopolizing the FutureWorld West Stage in EPCOT.Saturday night included a trip to Cirque de Soleil to see their death-defying acrobatic feats of weirdness. On Sunday night, after a day in the parks, the orchestra and band combined to form a 100-piece ensemble for a clinic with a Disney musician. He led us through several sight reading exercises, impressing upon us the importance of playing something right the first time. He said that while we may have 40+ rehearsals for one performance, professionals have one rehearsal for several performances--an impressive concept for us all to grasp. The evening ended as we recorded the music to some clips from Tarzan and then watching the video with our performance as the soundtrack. We did pretty well, I might add!
After another day in the parks on Monday, we got to celebrate a successful tour with a dance party at Fantasia Gardens, an outdoor pavilion on a small beach. On Tuesday, we visited the Kennedy Space Center and headed off to the airport for our return flight home. All in all, the trip was a big success, full of great music and memories. Now we can start planning Band Trip 2011!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Disney, Part One
Just a quick one here--one of my favorite things about going to DisneyWorld is hearing all of the wonderful performers throughout the park. Here are some of the sites from EPCOT:
Mariachi Cobre in Mexico. Several violins, two small guitars that I assume might be vihuelas, and the large acoustic bass guitar called a guitarron. The singing is in thirds and done in call and response fashion.
Mo' Rockin in Morocco. The lead singer/violinist composes these wonderful Moroccan rock songs with the keyboardist rapping in Arabic. The drummer is playing a cool drum machine.
The Voices of Liberty--an a cappella vocal group in the American pavillion:
Three women playing taiko drums in Japan:
A woman playing a guzheng, or Chinese zither, in a hall in China:
This doesn't include the shots I didn't get, like Off Kilter (a Canadian/Celtic rock band with a lead bagpiper) and the awesome sax quartet in the Magic Kingdom that feature a curved soprano and a bass sax.
I'll get some pictures up of our performance soon.
Mariachi Cobre in Mexico. Several violins, two small guitars that I assume might be vihuelas, and the large acoustic bass guitar called a guitarron. The singing is in thirds and done in call and response fashion.
Mo' Rockin in Morocco. The lead singer/violinist composes these wonderful Moroccan rock songs with the keyboardist rapping in Arabic. The drummer is playing a cool drum machine.
The Voices of Liberty--an a cappella vocal group in the American pavillion:
Three women playing taiko drums in Japan:
A woman playing a guzheng, or Chinese zither, in a hall in China:
This doesn't include the shots I didn't get, like Off Kilter (a Canadian/Celtic rock band with a lead bagpiper) and the awesome sax quartet in the Magic Kingdom that feature a curved soprano and a bass sax.
I'll get some pictures up of our performance soon.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Orlando Bound!
We're off to Orlando in a few hours! The bands are rehearsed, the music is packed, and the equipment is ready. Tomorrow we will have a wonderful concert in EPCOT along with performances by our orchestra, choirs, and dance group. On Sunday, we will attend the professional Disney clinics, and on Tuesday night we'll be back. Look for a wrap-up of our experiences next week!
Thursday, February 26, 2009
1959--The Vintage Year of Jazz
1959. A year some refer to as the “vintage year” of jazz. Five of the best-known, best-loved, and most legendary albums of all time were released within this 12-month span, and 2009 marks the 50th anniversary of this most fruitful period in jazz history. Here is my commentary about each album with a representative track from each.
Kind of Blue, Miles Davis
This is probably the top-selling traditional jazz album of all time. Many critics point to it as the album to buy when starting a jazz CD collection. Its selling points are many. The horn soloists, Miles Davis (trumpet), John Coltrane (tenor), and Cannonball Adderley (alto), are three of the greatest improvisers ever, and Miles and Trane are considered to be among the small handful of musicians who changed the face of jazz several times during their careers. This is also the first album to explore modal jazz on a large scale. Modal jazz uses very slow chord changes so that the soloists can explore single scales for an extended period. This is in contrast to bebop, in which the frantic tempos and complex harmonies require the improviser to change scales up to twice a second. Modal jazz can be laid back or wild, but on this album, it is the cool side that prevails.
The most common tracks recommended on this album are “So What” and “All Blues.” I would like you to instead hear the beautiful Bill Evans ballad “Blue in Green” which features his signature, thick chordal playing on piano. The chord progression is a peculiar 10-bar cycle:
G- |A7#9 |D- Db7 |C-7 F7b9 |Bbmaj7 |A7#9#5 |D- |E7#9#5 |A- |D- |
Each of the chords take on various alterations and extensions throughout. What makes the progression truly unique, however, is that soloists can play it as a 10-bar phrase, 5-bar phrase (chords go by 2x as fast), or a 2.5-bar phrase (4x as fast). The tempo, however, remains constant; only the chord progression changes speeds. Here is the form:
Intro
Miles plays (or rather hints at) the melody on trumpet with a harmon mute (10 bars)
Miles repeats (10 bars)
Bill Evans’ piano solo (twice through 5 bars)
John Coltrane’s tenor solo (twice through 5 bars)
Evans’ solo (twice through 2.5 bars)
Miles’ solo (twice through 10 bars)
Evans’ coda (rubato 2.5-bar version twice through plus the first three bars again, ending on D-)
Try to follow along!
Giant Steps, John Coltrane
This album is the antithesis of Kind of Blue. Coltrane had been playing over more and more complex chord progressions leading up to this recording, but here he takes bebop to its zenith. After this album, nobody played anything faster or more technically difficult than Trane did. Nowadays, it is considered a rite of passage to be able to solo over the title track “Giant Steps” up tempo. Listen to how the master did it, and then seek out the full album to hear other breakneck workouts, the quirky “Syeeda’s Song Flute,” and the gorgeous ballad, “Naima.”
Mingus Ah-Um, Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus was an incredible bassist, fiery bandleader, and iconic composer. His fusion of blues, bebop, gospel, and the avant garde created a style all his own. The variety of genres contained in this album is a great introduction to his work. Check out “Better Get Hit in Your Soul” for its Sunday morning preaching and the dark, ominous “Boogie Stop Shuffle.” All through the album, you can hear Mingus shouting and exhorting his musicians to higher levels of intensity. One of the more sedate numbers is “Jelly Roll,” an old-time piece which demonstrates how he let his horn players have plenty of freedom in their playing.
Time Out, Dave Brubeck
This album was a best seller from the moment it was released. The quartet featured Brubeck on piano and his artistic foil Paul Desmond on alto. Desmond’s light, buttery tone was one of my first models (along with Charlie Parker) as a young saxophonist. What is remarkable about the album, however, is its approach to rhythm. For fifty years, jazz had always been played in 4/4 time, but Brubeck changed that with this set of pieces in odd meters such as 3/4, 5/4, and 9/8. The signature tune from the disc is Desmond’s composition “Take Five.” The Joe Morello drum solo is wonderfully bombastic. Imagine an 18-year-old Dan Brame playing this number in the GBS V-Show. Good times…
The Shape of Jazz to Come, Ornette Coleman
Alto saxophonist Ornette Coleman was the pioneer of free jazz in the 1960s. This movement, which created a great deal of controversy in the jazz world, featured a much less constrained form of improvisation. Instead of single soloists with a rhythm section playing predetermined chord changes, the entire ensemble could improvise simultaneously, creating melodies without concern for staying in specific keys. Greater emphasis was placed on ensemble textures and interaction. Just before his album titled Free Jazz, in which he stepped off into the deep end, artistically speaking, he released The Shape of Jazz to Come, an album that is just on the brink of truly free playing. One of my all-time favorite jazz tracks is this one, the haunting and lyrical “Lonely Woman.” Listen for the way the ensemble plays in two different tempos at the same time.
Kind of Blue, Miles Davis
This is probably the top-selling traditional jazz album of all time. Many critics point to it as the album to buy when starting a jazz CD collection. Its selling points are many. The horn soloists, Miles Davis (trumpet), John Coltrane (tenor), and Cannonball Adderley (alto), are three of the greatest improvisers ever, and Miles and Trane are considered to be among the small handful of musicians who changed the face of jazz several times during their careers. This is also the first album to explore modal jazz on a large scale. Modal jazz uses very slow chord changes so that the soloists can explore single scales for an extended period. This is in contrast to bebop, in which the frantic tempos and complex harmonies require the improviser to change scales up to twice a second. Modal jazz can be laid back or wild, but on this album, it is the cool side that prevails.
The most common tracks recommended on this album are “So What” and “All Blues.” I would like you to instead hear the beautiful Bill Evans ballad “Blue in Green” which features his signature, thick chordal playing on piano. The chord progression is a peculiar 10-bar cycle:
G- |A7#9 |D- Db7 |C-7 F7b9 |Bbmaj7 |A7#9#5 |D- |E7#9#5 |A- |D- |
Each of the chords take on various alterations and extensions throughout. What makes the progression truly unique, however, is that soloists can play it as a 10-bar phrase, 5-bar phrase (chords go by 2x as fast), or a 2.5-bar phrase (4x as fast). The tempo, however, remains constant; only the chord progression changes speeds. Here is the form:
Intro
Miles plays (or rather hints at) the melody on trumpet with a harmon mute (10 bars)
Miles repeats (10 bars)
Bill Evans’ piano solo (twice through 5 bars)
John Coltrane’s tenor solo (twice through 5 bars)
Evans’ solo (twice through 2.5 bars)
Miles’ solo (twice through 10 bars)
Evans’ coda (rubato 2.5-bar version twice through plus the first three bars again, ending on D-)
Try to follow along!
Giant Steps, John Coltrane
This album is the antithesis of Kind of Blue. Coltrane had been playing over more and more complex chord progressions leading up to this recording, but here he takes bebop to its zenith. After this album, nobody played anything faster or more technically difficult than Trane did. Nowadays, it is considered a rite of passage to be able to solo over the title track “Giant Steps” up tempo. Listen to how the master did it, and then seek out the full album to hear other breakneck workouts, the quirky “Syeeda’s Song Flute,” and the gorgeous ballad, “Naima.”
Mingus Ah-Um, Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus was an incredible bassist, fiery bandleader, and iconic composer. His fusion of blues, bebop, gospel, and the avant garde created a style all his own. The variety of genres contained in this album is a great introduction to his work. Check out “Better Get Hit in Your Soul” for its Sunday morning preaching and the dark, ominous “Boogie Stop Shuffle.” All through the album, you can hear Mingus shouting and exhorting his musicians to higher levels of intensity. One of the more sedate numbers is “Jelly Roll,” an old-time piece which demonstrates how he let his horn players have plenty of freedom in their playing.
Time Out, Dave Brubeck
This album was a best seller from the moment it was released. The quartet featured Brubeck on piano and his artistic foil Paul Desmond on alto. Desmond’s light, buttery tone was one of my first models (along with Charlie Parker) as a young saxophonist. What is remarkable about the album, however, is its approach to rhythm. For fifty years, jazz had always been played in 4/4 time, but Brubeck changed that with this set of pieces in odd meters such as 3/4, 5/4, and 9/8. The signature tune from the disc is Desmond’s composition “Take Five.” The Joe Morello drum solo is wonderfully bombastic. Imagine an 18-year-old Dan Brame playing this number in the GBS V-Show. Good times…
The Shape of Jazz to Come, Ornette Coleman
Alto saxophonist Ornette Coleman was the pioneer of free jazz in the 1960s. This movement, which created a great deal of controversy in the jazz world, featured a much less constrained form of improvisation. Instead of single soloists with a rhythm section playing predetermined chord changes, the entire ensemble could improvise simultaneously, creating melodies without concern for staying in specific keys. Greater emphasis was placed on ensemble textures and interaction. Just before his album titled Free Jazz, in which he stepped off into the deep end, artistically speaking, he released The Shape of Jazz to Come, an album that is just on the brink of truly free playing. One of my all-time favorite jazz tracks is this one, the haunting and lyrical “Lonely Woman.” Listen for the way the ensemble plays in two different tempos at the same time.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Miles Davis Plays Half Nelson
The Jazz Band is currently working on a bebop tune written by Miles Davis called "Half Nelson." Here are two recordings for you to check out. The first is when Miles was quite young and was playing as a sideman for Charlie Parker:
The second is from a later quintet recording when he was the leader:
Note how much more developed and confident he is in the second recording.
*****
This posting is a bit of an experiment. I'm using a new online music service called "la la" that allows me to embed recordings for free in my blog so that you, the reader, can listen to the music I am discussing. It's an interesting new business model--you can go to their website, sign up, and listen to any song once. If you want to be able to hear it over and over, you pay a mere 10 cents for the right. You can also buy and download the song, a la iTunes, for 89 cents. Check it out here. I'll be curious to see how well it does.
The second is from a later quintet recording when he was the leader:
Note how much more developed and confident he is in the second recording.
*****
This posting is a bit of an experiment. I'm using a new online music service called "la la" that allows me to embed recordings for free in my blog so that you, the reader, can listen to the music I am discussing. It's an interesting new business model--you can go to their website, sign up, and listen to any song once. If you want to be able to hear it over and over, you pay a mere 10 cents for the right. You can also buy and download the song, a la iTunes, for 89 cents. Check it out here. I'll be curious to see how well it does.
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