A Review Of Jazz Combos Concert
The UCLA Jazz Combos concert was held at the University of California, Los Angeles at 7:00 pm Friday, November 22 (UCLA). This concert was performed in the Schoenberg Music Building at UCLA campus and we could find the concert on the google website and it will list the calendar date and places. The concert was conducted by jazz instruments which are Bass, Drums, Guitar, Saxophone, and Trumpet. This Jazz concert was divided into many major parts with an intermission of 5 to 10 minutes in between the parts. Therefore, there are some interesting about this Jazz concert that included musical pieces and composers.
However, the atmosphere was fairly intense as the concert hall was approximately the size of an average the biggest classroom with about 200 to 250 people in the audience. The stage setting was neat, demonstrative and well organized as the first entered the entrance. As on stage, facing the left side of audiences is a piano that the performer face to the choir. As moving right in the middle side, there were some performers who play the saxophone, trumpet, and trombone that they face to audiences and behind them was the performer who plays bass and drums are also face to audiences. Most of the time the new performers would walk from the right side of the stage to get on stage. Therefore, if the play has a singer, the singer would stay in the middle and front of other instruments players.
On the other hand, during the concert, there was a mistake on the paper program that the song called “ My Shining Hour” was written as “ My Shining House” instead, so the singer named Sarah Mckagan had made an announcement about changing the word to audiences.
Nevertheless, this concert provided with 6 parts and each part has played in different groups. For the first part named Jazz Combo One directed by Michele Weir that included with 5 songs, Moody’s Mood for Love for this song the composer using a triple meter that has three beats to a measure, like “ There I go, there I go” which sound with one strong beat and two weak. Another song is No More Blue which melody moving up and down and connected with consonance that could make the listener feel happy and want to dance. For another song is Misterios, this song is a foreign song that using harmony with dissonance that could feel with sadness. Another song is Dr. Feelgood, it is using tempo “ adagio and allegro” that has carries emotional implication to the listener. The last song of part one is My Shining Hour. Second, Jazz Combos Two which directed by Charles Owens that included 3 pieces of music, Recorda Me, Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise and All the Things You Are. Third, Jazz Combo three which arrange by Clayton Cameron that also carries with 3 pieces of music, Jordu, Impressions, and Autumn Leaves. Forth, Jazz Combo four which directed by Roberto Miranda who also carries 3 pieces of music, Encounter Within, Lux, and The Creator’s Musician. Fifth, Jazz Combo five which directed by Charley Harrison with 2 pieces of music, Yes or No and Invitation.
On the other hand, there are some interesting things about the composer Antonio Carlos Jobim. He was an extraordinarily famous musician from Brazil and he became jazz influential composer of international several generations of most performers and audiences. According to the Los Angeles Times, “ Jobim, Brazil’s most prominent songwriter and composer, burst onto the international music scene with the bossa nova sound, a combination of Jazz and samba in the early 1960”, so Jobim best renowned Bossa Nova that has caught the attention of jazz musicians in the United States and other countries. As he stated in the LA time that Bossa Nova was the music that could show that Brazil about the modern culture exporter. That means his songs could bring the world’s attention to his country. Therefore, Jobim was not just a local composer or musician but he was an international performer that had involved with other singers and musicians.
One of the other interesting composers is John Coltrane. He was an American jazz saxophonist, composer and play several instruments. At an early age, Coltrane has influenced by the legends of jazz, so he always listens to jazz music (Biography). After growing as teens, Coltrane has a special talent that he could play the saxophone by himself (Biography). Therefore, Coltrane went to Ornstein School of music in a short period of time. However, at the age of 22, Coltrane has joined the band called “ Dizzy Gillespie’s band” that he could learn to play the trumpet and in several years later he joined another group that included piano, double bass, and drums, so he could learn all the jazz instrument by joining the group and learn to play (Learning English). Therefore, after learning all the jazz instruments, he started to write and perform jazz music by himself and most of the music that he composed was a unique sound that loudest and fastest ever in the lives of the saxophone (Learning English).
The last interesting of another composer is Oscar Hammerstein II. He was an American songwriter and theatre director of musical. Hammerstein used to be a law student but found his passion by studying the theatre instead. Hammerstein is first known as a librettist who has collaborated with other producers during the early 1900s. After he achieved great success as librettist, he started his life to write lyrics of music and collaborate with other songwriters and win the first prize “Broadway musical” and earned another “ Pulitzer Prize Special Award and Citation” for the next year (biography). Therefore, Hammerstein was the first collaboration musical that has teamed with many other composers, so being a partnership with others could lead him to be a success and famous in life.
In conclusion, this Jazz concert performed with many pieces and using the musical from famous composers. In most of the pieces have rhythms swing and stride at one moment and rapidly processional at another. The harmonies could be strange and foreboding that have texture appropriate to the subject. With composers, they are so creative and incredible with their talents that they could bring music into lives. Overall, this concert is a perfect resource for students that want to learn about music, so students could expand the knowledge to understand further emotion to the inspiration of the Jazz world.
Work Cited
- Biography, “ John Coltrane Biography”, 01 August 2019. https://www. biography. com/musician/john-coltrane
- Biography, “ Oscar Hammerstein II Biography” 17 July 2019. https://www. biography. com/musician/oscar-hammerstein-ii
- Don Heckman, “ Appreciation: Jobim was more than the king of Bossa Nova”, Los Angeles Times, 09 December 1994.
- https://www. latimes. com/archives/la-xpm-1994-12-09-ca-7119-story. html
- Learning English, “ John Coltrane, 1926-1967: The Famous Saxophone Player Helped Make Modern Jazz Popular Around the World” 06 November 2010. https://learningenglish. voanews. com/a/john-coltrane-1926-1967-the-famous-saxophone-player-helped-make-modern-jazz-popular-around-the-world-106823604/114223. html
- Los Angeles Times, “ Antonio Jobim; Composer Created Bossa Nova Sound”, 09 December 1994. https://www. latimes. com/archives/la-xpm-1994-12-09-mn-6788-story. html
- UCLA, “ UCLA Jazz Combos Concert” https://happenings. ucla. edu/arts/event/311708
