Jazz Showcase

Coordinating a university jazz program is no small task; but it is especially challenging at the onset of a semester. In addition to teaching related duties (like planning course work and writing syllabi), there are ensemble placement auditions and the formation and scheduling of groups. It took lots of time, energy and organization, but I’m pleased to say that all the UConn jazz groups are up and running once again, like a well-oiled machine.

Our fall semester Jazz Showcase Concert is tomorrow night, Thursday, Sept. 24th, from 7 – 9 p.m. at the UConn Co-Op Bookstore in Storrs Center. All the UCONN jazz groups perform an evening of music spanning a wide range of eras, styles and instrumentations - from bebop-infused quintets to big band swing. C’mon down!

Here’s the program:

University of Connecticut Jazz Showcase Concert – Fall 2015

UConn Co-Op Bookstore at Storrs Center

Thursday, Sept. 27th, 2015

7 – 9 p.m.

Jazz Lab Band
Directed by John Mastroianni

Minor Matter..........Lennie Niehaus
Festival..........Rick Stitzel

Alto Sax 1: David Jardim
Alto Sax 2: Rebecca Demaio
Tenor Sax 1: Rich Sadlon
Tenor Sax 2: Sally Kurdziel
Bari Sax: Nick Oliveira
Flute: Haley Hanenbaum
Trumpet 1:Kameryn Larkins
Trumpet 2: Sarah Falkenstine
Trumpet 3: Jeremy Cruz
Trumpet 4: Nathan Kwak
Trombone 1: Liam Evans
Trombone 2: Matt DeNegre
Trombone 3: Akua Frimpong
Bass Tbn: Gregory Bicknell
Piano: Alec McCandless
Bass: Nick Monllos
Drums: Steven McArdle


Combo #2:
Doug Maher, director

I Mean You..........Thelonious Monk
Stella By Starlight..........Victor Young

Grant Eagleson - trumpet
Kevin Duffy – tenor sax
David Caffrey - guitar
James Duffy – bass
Michael O’Callaghan - drums


E-Bop:
Earl MacDonald, director

No Moe..........Sonny Rollins
St. Thomas..........Sonny Rollins

Michael O’Callaghan – trumpet
Andrew Wynsen – piano
Nate Giordano – string bass
Earl MacDonald - drums


Combo #3:
Doug Maher, director

Darn That Dream..........Jimmy Van Heusen and lyrics by Eddie DeLange
Au Privave..........Charlie Parker

Jeremy Cruz - trumpet
Patrick Pierce – alto sax
Danny Cioffari - guitar
Alexandria Bodick – string bass
Steven McArdle - drums


UConn Jazz 10tet
Earl MacDonald, director

Sordid Sort of Fellow..........Earl MacDonald
Miles Apart..........Earl MacDonald
Smoke and Mirrors..........Earl MacDonald

Adam Harris – alto saxophone
Charles Salley – tenor sax
Kevin Duffy – bari sax
Grant Eagleson – trumpet 1
Michael O’Callaghan – trumpet 2
Alex Gertner – French horn
Liam Reynolds – trombone
Andrew Wynsen – piano


Combo #1:
Gregg August, director

Moose the Mooche..........Charlie Parker
Cheryl..........Charlie Parker
Lover Man..........Jimmy Davis, Roger Ramirez & James Sherman.
Confirmation..........Charlie Parker

Michael O’Callaghan - trumpet
Adam Harris – alto saxophone
Patrick Adams - guitar
Andrew Wynsen - piano
Nathan Giordano – string bass
William Trautmann – drum set


--- jam session to follow ---

Looking Forward, Looking Back

"Looking Forward, Looking Back" seemed like the perfect title for New Years' Eve, the day we look ahead to the New Year, while also spending some time in reflection.  This is the fifth and final post in my mini-series providing insight into my graphic, aleatoric compositions.

This piece is designed to tell a story about a crucial, life-changing decision.  The problem is, the decision is being made by someone other than yourself.  Two possible scenarios are:

1. a wedding proposal where she says, "Give me a day or two and I'll get back to you."
2. a job interview

Here's the score (click on it to enlarge it to full size):

And here is a live performance of it, featuring my band,  C.O.W. (the Creative Opportunity Workshop).  Note that all the trumpet parts are played by saxophone.  You might enjoy following along with the score while simultaneously watching the performance.

Happy New Year!

Jazz Meets Baseball

"Stealing Third" is a musical game inspired by the secret, encoded signals of a third base coach, who tells base runners to either "stay put" or "steal to third."

The game/piece requires a conductor and works well with a small group of musicians (probably no more than six players).  The conductor builds a piece using the signals below, in any order.  The various elements can and should be used more than once.

• A clenched fist is used to get the attention of the players before giving an instruction.  The clenched fist is followed by...
• a conducted "downbeat" indicating a contrast in texture during collective, group improvisation. (loud becomes soft, dense becomes sparse, etc.)
• holding up 1, 2, 3 or 4 fingers and then pointing at specific players to cue an upcoming solo, duo, trio or quartet.  The players continue with the previous texture until a downbeat has been given.
• a tug on the ear, which cues "cartoon sounds" (also known as, extended instrumental techniques). These could include playing a mouthpiece alone, tapping keys, closing the piano lid, blowing air through a horn, removing tubing from a brass instrument, etc.)  Upon the downbeat, the conductor quickly points at individuals who reveal their predetermined, unorthodox sounds.  The players must be "on their toes" and ready to react should they be pointed to next.  
• touching his nose, signaling it is time to end the piece.  The players don't have to stop abruptly; rather, they end the piece organically.

[Click on the score to enlarge it to full size.]

Let's play ball!

Gush - an avant-garde musical experiment

Today I am sharing my piece, "Gush" to further illustrate the concept of guided free improvisation.  Gush depicts the affects of adding various stimuli to a water-based ecosystem.  For it's debut performance it was scored for 3 saxes, 4 brass and rhythm section.  The entrance and exit of each instrument is variable and cued by the conductor or a designated member within the ensemble.

Although "Gush" was later recorded by my quartet, the Creative Opportunity Workshop, it didn't make it onto my "Mirror of the Mind" CD.  I decided to release a balanced cross-selection of our repertoire rather than focusing solely on avant-garde experiments (or arranged pop tunes or contemporary jazz compositions).

The following video was created by Ted Efremoff and Deborah Dancy, as part of a collaborative, cross-disciplinary suite entitled "Above the Surface of the Water", for I which composed the music.

Can you hear the school of minnows frolicking joyfully in the water?  How about the fisherman's hook interacting with the salmon?  The motor boat stirring things up?  The affect of pollutants on the fish and plant life?

Musical Masturbation

I have heard it said that free jazz is a lot like masturbation; it is self indulgent and should be done in private.  A few years ago I may have subscribed to this viewpoint, but I'm becoming more open minded.  I now see free improvisation as a legitimate and effective form of self expression.  But like any art form, it takes time to develop a level of proficiency (which facilitates the communication of plausible musical statements).

As a creative musician looking to stretch my imagination and further develop the intuitive side of my musicianship, I have found "playing free" to be beneficial.  I think it has made me a better composer and improviser in tonal settings.

The author of the Wikipedia article on Free Improvisation defines it as "improvised music without any rules beyond the logic or inclination of the musician(s) involved."  My compositional forays into free jazz tend to have some rules and guidelines, so as to steer the improvisors.

Here is a video of my band, the Creative Opportunity Workshop, playing a free piece I entitled, "Quaternary Triangulation":

The score is a set of instructions which looks like this:  (If you click on the image, it will expand to full size.)

The result is four, short, contrasting trios.  In the video, the suite unfolded as follows:
Mvt. #1:  cello (leader), accompanied by piano and percussion
Mvt. #2: piano (leader), accompanied by percussion and sax
Mvt. #3: percussion (leader), accompanied by sax and cello
Mvt. #4: sax (leader), accompanied by piano and cello

As an educator, I have found this exercise to be helpful in getting students to consider and execute elements of contrast: fast/slow, high/low registers, long/short articulations, dense/sparse, loud/soft, etc.  It doesn't hurt for professionals to be reminded of these devices either.

In an earlier blog post I touched on my experiences using "guided free improvisation" in educational settings.  I have provided a link, so I won't expound here, although I see tremendous untapped potential here.

Over the next few days I will share several more of my free compositions, so as to provide some insight into a style which is perhaps too easily dismissed by the uninitiated.

Teaching Improvisation Within Jazz Ensemble Rehearsals

How many student big bands have you heard where the ensemble playing was acceptable but where the soloing was downright atrocious? Based on the adjudications and visitations I have done, I'd go so far as to say that this is the norm in most schools across North America.  I admit that over the years, to varying degrees, my bands too could be described in this way.  Despite typically having one or two star improvisers, improvisation remains a common area of weakness.

If improvisation is jazz's defining characteristic, why as ensemble directors are we prioritizing accurate mass ensemble playing over the development of soloing skills in our rehearsals?  My rationale has been: in improv class, I teach improv, while in jazz ensemble I emphasize ensemble playing and exposing students to big band literature.  The problem is, only a small portion of my band takes my improv class.  In fact, some of them are not receiving any guidance in learning improvisation.  This simply has to change.  To quote Popeye,

"That's all I can stands, I can't stands no more."

Teaching a new lick to the UConn Jazz Ensemble.

My band rehearses from 3 - 5 on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Starting in January, half an hour every Thursday will be devoted to developing improv skills.  There will be 15 minutes of instruction and 15 minutes of testing, based on the material assigned from the previous week.

As stated in my last post, we will be working on repertoire from the Art Pepper Plus Eleven album.  Almost every tune is a commonly played jazz standard, thereby functioning as excellent vehicles for teaching improvisation.  Learning these 12 pieces (sans arrangements) will be reinforced by assigning them as the performance repertoire for our weekly, Thursday night jam session at Lu's Cafe.

Students will be expected to play and sing the melodies, bass motion and arpeggiate the harmonic progression.  A variety of directly applicable licks, patterns and scales will be taught and correctly inserted into the pieces.

Four transcription projects will be assigned over the semester, consisting of two choruses (minimum) from any recording of Bb rhythm changes, F blues, Donna Lee and Airegin --- all of which are found on the selected Art Pepper album.  Students will notate, learn and perform these solos by memory.  They will be taught how to extract licks from these solos to learn in 12 keys and apply to other tunes.  Additional choruses/solos will count towards extra credit.

I would love to hear from my my fellow jazz educators in the comments below.  Is teaching improvisation a regular part of your large ensemble rehearsals?  Why/why not?  If so, how much time do you devote to it?  What do you require and assign?  How do you assess it?  Have you seen substantial improvement when improv instruction has been a regular component of your rehearsals? What do you think of my plan?  In your opinion, am I asking for/expecting too much?  Should valuable rehearsal time be devoted to teaching improv?

In the next few posts I will continue to share some thoughts about how I am planning to transform my rehearsals in the spring.  Sight reading and listening will be the next two topics.  Again, I would love to receive some feedback.  Feel free to throw questions back at me too.

Every Ending Is A New Beginning

As the fall semester wraps up, I have been considering what musical project I will undertake in the spring with the UConn Jazz Ensemble.  I have also been giving some thought to how I might change my teaching approach next semester --- but I will expound on that in my next post.

For now, here is a taste from the 1959 "Art Pepper Plus Eleven" album --- Groovin' High.

I plan to prepare all twelve selections from this recording with the UConn Jazz Ensemble next semester.   Almost every tune is commonly played at jam sessions: Move, Groovin' High, Opus De Funk, 'Round Midnight, Four Brothers, Shaw Nuff, Bernie's Tune, Walkin' Shoes, Anthropology, Airegin, Walkin', Donna Lee. 

Because these tunes are perfect vehicles for teaching improvisation, this will be a strong focus in addition to ensemble playing. Plenty of rehearsal time will be devoted to "getting inside" these pieces and learning the changes (harmonies).  It should make for a fun project.

Looking Forward

On occasion I like to dabble in the world of free jazz.  Trumpeter John Allmark has been quoted as saying "they call it free jazz because no one will pay to hear it."  Although I agree that free jazz is not the most accessible, easy-listening music, I definitely see merits to playing free --- both within jazz education and for my own personal artistic growth and expression.

When discussing free jazz, I like to ask the question, "Free of what?"  The improviser can be liberated and encouraged to experiment outside of the usual parameters by subtracting one or more of the following musical elements:  predetermined form, tonality, key signature, standard notation, set rhythms, melodies, harmonies, tempo, time signature, etc.

This tune, "Looking Forward, Looking Back", does have a roadmap and form (including a Dal segno and Coda), but is otherwise notated using an unconventional graphic format.  Using contrasting, cued events, a story unfolds.



Here is the score, so you can follow along: (Click on the image to enlarge it.)

I refer to this type of composition as "guided free improvisation".  In my recent recording session with the Creative Opportunity Workshop (COW), we recorded four pieces incorporating this compositional technique.

I have successfully used some of these pieces in educational settings, when working with beginner improvisers.  Graphic scores provide "an in" (starting point) for those who don't yet know their chords, scales and the dauntingly vast amounts of theory required to outline harmonic progressions.  Obviously I teach this material too, but I like getting them playing ASAP, and overwhelming them isn't always productive.  Paralysis by Analysis --- as Bill Fielder used to call it.

Imagine the creative explosion/renaissance that might occur if every kid's first musical assignment was to make a list of 12 extended instrumental techniques to demonstrate at their next lesson.