Senior Jazz Band Critique

On the Lisgar CI senior music night, the four music ensembles performed their favourite pieces for an audience of parents and students. I attended to critique the performance of the Senior Jazz Band. The band, conducted by Mr. Arrigo, looked sharp as almost all members were wearing full black concert dress. They played three jazzy pieces, which were each different and fun in their own way, and they nailed each one.

First of all, the sound quality was impressive, and the instruments blended well. The band mostly didn’t give the feel of different parts being mashed together, but more of a single moving part. The trombones and trumpets had quite nice, clear, and pleasant sound, as well as the saxophones during their solos and the rest of the band. As far as I could
I did feel that there could have been a higher ratio of lower bass parts to high, however. Also, there was one point during the performance that I noticed what may have been a wrong note by the piano at the beginning of the second song, “L’il Darlin.” During “L’il Darlin,” one trumpet was also playing a solo with a mute. I’m sure that it was quite difficult to play, so the sound was wavering and weak, which is not the sound you want for a solo. Otherwise, the band’s sound quality was beautiful, and nice to listen to.

The band had good expression and articulation as well. The phrases were clear and defined, and dynamics were evident as the band would crescendo into heightened parts of the pieces and decrescendo afterwards. In “L’il Darlin,” the dynamics were quite soft, which is difficult to play on many instruments, but the band handled it quite well without