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Jazz Concert Essay

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On October 13, I attended a concert by the UT Jazz orchestra at the Bates Recital Hall. This performance consisted of seven pieces and all were stylistically different, which allowed the audience to enjoy the various sounds of jazz music. Among the instrument groups, there are saxophones, trumpets, trombones, piano and drums. Professor Jeff Hellmer served as director andJohn Mills appeared as guest conductor. The whole concert made a lasting impression on me.

The concert opened with the “Carmelo’s by the Freeway”, which composed by Bob Florence. I hadn’t heard this compositionbefore. Through the movement, the tenor saxophone and trumpet took turns at the melody to warm up the audience in the form of solos. I recognized the composition “Easy Living”, which occurred in the movie of the same name. The Cool Era influence could be heard in the lyrical rhythm composed by the piano and saxophones. I felt relief when following the simple but lyrical melodies. I also recognized the work “Tuning Up” and it was written by famous jazz musician Toshiko. I heard itwhen I watched the recording of her jazz concert …show more content…

For instance, the composition “Carmelo’s by the Freeway” uses simple and lyrical melodies, and it was influenced by the Cool Era. Throughout the song “Blues for Poland”, there were plenty of blues elementsand improvisation sections, which in my view, were influenced by the Hard Bop Era. I could also hear the influence of the Swing Era in the last piece “Slang”. The big band instrumentation was adapted in this composition, featuring muted trumpets and relatively simple melodies, which brought the evening to an end. Compared to the composed section of the music, the improvisations tended to convey musical ideas and heated up the audience as well. This immediate composition combined performance with communication of emotions, especially in the composition “Tuning

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