Jazz Concert Critique

I attended the Missouri Western Jazz Ensemble concert on February 3. I can thoroughly say I enjoyed the performance. For being a rather small band, less than twenty members, they certainly packed a very large sound. To me the band sounded as though it was very well rehearsed. There seemed no lack of confidence in there playing; you could tell they knew and enjoyed playing the songs. All of these factors made it very entertaining to watch this ensemble.

I would consider myself somewhat unfamiliar with jazz type music. Other than attending a Kenny G concert and watching the movie Whiplash, I don’t know much about jazz. While I can’t even begin to compare Missouri Western Jazz Ensemble to that of Kenny G, I can certainly say, to the untrained

The rest of the trumpet section was also very lively; I felt they carried the main theme in almost every song which certainly kept me interested in the performance. The conductor kept the band on time, and to me they never missed a beat. One could tell they were certainly well rehearsed and truly knew how to use their instruments. A lot of music these days has become focused on generating the catchiest lyrics or chorus, so seeing this jazz ensemble was very refreshing. I was delightfully surprised to see such remarkable music talent at a performance of that size and caliper. The majority of the pieces featured a rather slow steady beat, provided by the drum and the piano, while the other instruments (mainly the brass section) were used to play the main motif along with some minor ornamentations. The third song they played, one of my favorites, was simply a steady 4/4 tempo kept by the drum, with some minor variations. The saxophone and trumpets took turns drifting in and out to carry the melody. The saxophone player delivered an entertained solo which consisted of very light and amusing trills, this created a very soothing and relaxing