If it is blues and jazz style of music that is missing in life then check out Cassandra Wilson. The Warfield was the site of this performance which began at about eight p.m. on February 29th. The show began late and ran for about two hours. The was no opening performance just Wilson's set. At different intervals some tuning was necessary due to the instruments banging around in the tour bus that was parked outside.
The stage was set up with basic blues and jazz instruments in addition to some more unusual instruments. There was a basic drum set including: kick drum, snare, floor tom, ride and crash symbols, and a high hat. The drums were a rented Yamaha set, according to the sound technician that was located on the loge level. On another platform there were more percussion instruments set up. A timbale, two conga drums, bongo drums, a Tumba, chimes, and a floor kick drum were present. Located on stage left was the upright bass and the Yamaha drum set. Center and up stage was the percussion set with a microphone set up for Wilson down and center stage as well as a Martin acoustic guitar that she plays. On stage right a person would find a acoustic banjo, harmonica stand, a 12- string Gibson guitar, and a Takamene acoustic guitar.
There were a total of six musicians including Wilson. Amongst the musicians were Brandon Ross on the banjo and 12- string guitar, Reggie Avil on the upright bass, Jeff Hanes on percussion, Wilson on her Martin guitar, and two more musicians. Many of the songs were in a 12-bar blues form with improvisations on the solos. Listening to one of Wilson's CD's and then being at the show allowed for noticing the improvised parts. The percussionist and harmonica player were very talented and featured in many solos throughout the two hour long show.
Wilson played many of her own songs in addition to covers of other artist's songs.
"Sail Along" was the first song played followed by "Nobody Knows" and "Last train" which was a Monkey's tune. "Nobody Knows" used a major-keyed harmonica giving the music a deeper and somber tone. The lead instrument in this song was a banjo instead of a guitar which normally would be used. Other performers' music that was covered were Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson.
"Stay Lady" was the Bob Dylan song with a more blues style twist followed by "Crazy" by Willie Nelson.
The concert is performed by the Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis. The video of this concert is 90 minutes in length. The concert was an ensemble of various Dave Brubeck arrangements utilizing various jazz techniques and styles with mainly the following instruments: bass, piano, trumpet, trombone, tenor sax, soprano sax, clarinet, bass clarinet, alto sax, flute, piccolo, baritone sax, drum, and tambourine. The performance included these 15 pieces: “Unsquare Dance”, “Three to Get Ready”, “The Duke”, “Cassandra”, “Strange Meadowlark”, “Who Will Take Care of Me?”, “It’s a Raggy Waltz”, “Tokyo Traffic”, “Take Five”, “Lost Waltz”, “Upstage Rhumba”, “In Your Own Sweet Way”, “Fast Life”, “Bluette”, and “Blue Rondo a la Turk”. The performance highlights the versatile, influential and extraordinary life’s work of Dave Brubeck.
This style started to develop at a young age when Simon teamed up with high school friend, Art Garfunkel. Garfunkel was an excellent writer of songs also, and very well complemented Simon's style. Simon was heavy into doo-ops, teen songs, Elvis Pressley, and harmonicizing. He was also deeply into grass roots types of music, and he is the reason that Lady Smith Black Mambazo ever became quasi popular with their type of African tribal when he put them on the album Graceland.
A third and final tune that both Ella and Billie performed is “Willow Weep for Me,” with Ella recording it in 1960 on Hello, Love and Billie recording it in 1956 on Lady Sings the Blues. In Ella’s rendition, she again expertly exercises her range, going from highs to lows easily, and still keeping the tempo slow. This song is actually an impressive piece of work for Billie, who utilizes her vocals to the best of her ability, and is able to thoroughly embody the
The jazz band I observed played a series of six different songs. Although all the songs were categorized as jazz, each song had its own special style and sound to it. The band consisted of three different players. Paul Meyers, the guitarist and composer, Andy Eulau, the bassist, and Dave Rataczak, on drums. The songs performed were entitled “Love for Sale” by Cole Porter, “Once I Loved” by Antonio Carlos Jobim, “Stars” by Paul Meyers, “Blues for Mel” also by Paul Meyers, “Last Night When We Were Young” by Harold Arlen, and “Samba Novo” by Luis Eca.
Upon entering the stage Lucky smiled and waved as he sped over to the organ sat down said “Hello” and began playing immediately. The first eight or so minutes were purely instrumental and quite honestly, amazing. The percussion line is played via the pedals on the organ, bass line via left hand and melody via right hand. It is incredible to watch, maybe more so for me since I have a heck of a time getting my hands to tap and two different speeds. Lucky played a couple more songs on the organ and then switched over to his guitar and played “Three Handed Woman”. Lucky called his wife Tamara on stage, she gave him heck for bringing her out on stage right after that song since the chorus is “She’s a left handed, right handed, underhanded woman”.
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
Another rare occurrence; real songwriters and musicians playing their own music! The five-piece band is led by vocalist, Karin Barquist, and her husband Linford Detweiler, keyboardist and collaborator. The rest of the band consists of Paul Moak who played the sitar during the opening song and lead guitar during most of the others, Will Seyles on drums, and Rick Plant on bass guitar. But Barquist seems to be the key member in the band. She has all the qualities a good lead singer should have; great voice, good-looking, poised, mature and confident. She really runs the show up there, and makes it look effortless in the process.
...ength in themselves and their love of jazz fusion music. The last song of the night played was their hit single, “Free the Toronto Nine”. Each musician had their own solo that kept true to the original song, but with fresh improvisation that created this incredible tune. This song has it all, swing feel, syncopation, improvisation, and enticing the rise and fall, but with a dramatic and modernized twist that just leaves you wanted more. This tune was definitely my favorite song of the night.
One performance that stood out to me during the concert was a song called Sinfonia #3 by J. C. Bach (Wind Ensemble Concert program). The reason I enjoyed this song was because it was performed by nine saxophone players. I would say
Jimmy Page played guitar, Robert Plant was the vocalist, John Paul Jones played bass guitar and the keyboard, and John Bonham beat the drums. The group had the complete set up for a band right off the start. They produced their first record in thirty hours to complete their deal with the old Yardbirds. They toured Scandinavia for awhile also to complete their obligations to the Yardbirds.
violin, piano, cornet, alto horn, flute, baritone. Like his father, who played the trombone in the U.S. Marines Band, John, too, learned to play the trombone. John also spent time studying voice.
“Cherokee” starts off with a melody played into unison of two horns while Roach is playing a simple after-beat rhythm. As the song continues you hear a solo played by Brown. Harold Land plays a solo on the tenor saxophone and Richie Powell is on the piano. Roach plays a unique quickness on the snares. "Jacqui"
“West End Blues” begins with a 12-second trumpet solo that displayed Armstrong’s wonderful range and demonstrated the syncopated styling unique
The first song, Magnificat in C, was one of the longer songs performed, and featured many solos by Union students. This song is in Latin, but due to the English translation the audience received prior to the performance, we were able to follow along and comprehend the lyrics. This song demonstrated the various parts of a choir and allowed the sopranos, altos, and tenors to express themselves through sectional solos.
On the Morning of Friday November 11th 2016 I attended a solo jazz performer known by the name of Randy Freeman. The performance was held at the Patio Cafe in the Fig Garden Shopping center at about 11:15am. Randy Freeman was playing an acoustic electric guitar alone to a patio of peoples enjoying their brunch and individuals inside the restaurant. I then later that weekend on the date of November 12th 2016 witnessed “Real Jazz” This performance began at 6:00pm and the entire band and instruments were packed into a small parking spot below the patio.