Jazz Concert Review

The formal jazz concert was held at New England Conservatory- Jordan Hall Thursday, November 29, 2012. The New England Conservatory is well known for its contemporary improvisation program. The program was founded in 1972 by musical visionaries Gunther Schuller and Ran Blake, trains musicians to develop their composing, performing, and improvising skills. Several concerts have been held at N.E.C(New England Conservatory), but the main theme of this specific one is "Rebirth of the Third Stream". "The program walks through the evolution of music that fits the Third Stream definition and its evolution: jazz compositions that are orchestrated with the complexity of a classical symphony; classical works that have been "recomposed" by jazz musicians; original works by classical and jazz composers that blend genres." Prior to the concert, the musicians were introduced to the audience. The names of the players were:
Saxophones
Will Bridges, alto
Billy McShane, alto
Hery Paz, tenor
Jack Finucane, tenor
Tyler Burchfield, baritone
Trumpets
Matt Joseph
Kai Sandoval
David Neves
Aaron Dubenion
Josh Gilbert
Trombones
Quinn Carson
Dan Gabel
Eric Stilwell
Michael Prentky
Rhythm Section
Nikolaos Anadolis, piano
Ben Eunson, guitar
Zwelakhe Bell le Pere, bass
Willie Rodriguez, drums
Guests
Zoe Christiansen, clarinet
Luke Park, clarinet and alto saxophone
Alex Henton, Jennifer Hyde, horn
Lucas Jensen, bass trombone After players set up on stage they opened with A Tone Parallel to Harlem by Duke Ellington. They opened with a very slow introductory beat and picking up and slowing down tempo as time elapsed. There was obvious synchronization of Ellington's bing band swing musical composition and classical symphony influence that had been recomposed. This song gave the audience an overall introduction or feel for what would be played throughout the concert. I believe this was a great musical piece to open with because it was brilliantly arranged to give the audience a taste of the swing, along with the complexity of the orchestra. The second piece played was Arab Dance originally composed by Tchaikovsky(1840-1893), and arranged by Gil Evans. This classic famously composed for the play the Nutcracker, is complex and very well arranged. This song put the audience into a trance like state with its deep classical melodies, but also incorporated use of the saxophone and trumpets. The third piece that was played was Modern Opus by Bob Graettinger. I believe this defines the concert because it was originally composed as a third stream piece of music. Included a lot of Alto Saxaphone, trumpet, and trombone. You Go To My Head composed by J.Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie, also arranged by Bob Graettinger was played next, this is a very complex arrangement. Heavily influenced by the classical music and orchesta, but also included improvisation of jazz melodies. The Shoes of the Fisherman's wife are some Jive-Ass Slippers composed by Charles Mingus and arranged by Sy Johnson is a wonderful sound. This was my favorite piece played. Has very interesting sounds of flutes, and beautiful piano solo. This was the last song played before the concerts intermission. Opening up after intermission was the Prelude, Fugue, and Riffs. composed by Leonard Bernstein(1918-1991). Worms composed by Steve Lacy was performed next, followed by Horrace is Blue composed by Ran Blake and arranged by Ken Schaphorst. The last piece played was All About Rosie composed by George Russell, this was a greeat musical piece to end on really combing the classical and swing jazz genres. There was a solo by trumpet player Josh Gilbert. This was very energizing and upbeat jazz melody. After the concert we got a live interview Josh Gilbert who was a trumpet player in the orchestra. He also played a solo in the closing piece. He added that the composer arranger and bandleader Ran Blake is a very innovate music teacher and performer combing classic