Concert evaluation Essays - Jazz Genres, Miles Davis, Free Essays

Concert evaluation Essays - Jazz Genres, Miles Davis, Free Essays Concert evaluation Concert evaluation Alex Graham Quartet band Concert Review Humanities 211: music appreciation 3/16/11/2011 3/23/2011 Alex Graham Quartet Band The concert took place on March 15, 2011 at a place called ?Tap Room?, in downtown Ypsilanti, MI. I didn?t know the place and I was a little bit scared because the name of the bar gave me the wrong idea. I got there around 9:00 pm, the bar got three sections, when I first walk in I saw the bar area on my left, the pool (billiard) room was next and the jazz room was third next to the kitchen. The name of the band was Alex Graham Quartet band, named by the head of the band alto saxophonist Alex graham. Alto saxophonist Alex Graham has performed with several of today?s top jazz artists including Wessell Anderson, Nnenna Freelon, Louis Smith, Diane Schuur, Troy ?Trombone Shorty? Andrews. In addition to writing arrangements for vocalists Diane Schuur and John Boutte, he has also composed and arranged for small group, big band and studio orchestra. Currently he teaches jazz at EMU. His band has six members including himself: organist, guitarist, drum player, cello player, and two saxop hone players. They played several songs through the night, I?m going to pick the top five and evaluate the performance. The first piece they played was, ?It could happen to you? by Keith Jarret. The song was composed in 1996 in Tokyo, Japan. He was born on May 8, 1945 in Allentown, Pennsylvania. This solo has everything; burning bop-like lines, rhythmic motives, "out"-sounding lines and pentatonic and blues phrases. I like how the lines just flow and I can't really capture his time feel with my transcription, you have to listen for yourself. By mixing rhythms and melodic patterns this way Jarret creates a solo that feels "alive". The band played it so well, the only thing is it was long (10 mins), the only song I would say which attracted everybody at the show. In 1996, Atlanta hosted the 100th anniversary of the Olympic Games. Clinton and Al gore won second term at the white house. I believe this piece have ?everybody unite? kind of world tune. Trivia the number one song in 1996 was Los Del Rio - Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix). The second song they played was, ?Four? by Miles Davis. This song was originally written with saxophonist Eddie ?Clean head? Vinson although Davis subsequently has been attributed with its composition, ?Four? was first recorded by Miles Davis in 1954 on the album ?Blue Haze?. A little biography on Miles, In 1944 the eighteen year old Davis moved to New York to pursue a career in music. He enrolled at Julliard, but his real incentive was to be part of the new jazz being played: bebop. Bebop was music for listening rather than dancing and featured extended improvisation, frenetic tempos, complex and often dissonant harmonies and intricate rhythms. The band especially Alex and the other saxophonist played it amazingly well. The cords and melody are repeated multiple times but it gave it a nice tune. Historically , 1954 the African American civil rights movement Brown v Board of Education makes segregation in US Public Schools Unconstitutional. Rosa Parks arrest in Montgomery Alabama sets the American Civil Rights Movement in Motion. Trivia the number one song in 1954 was: Kitty Kallen - Little Things Mean A Lot. The third song they played and I liked was another Miles Davis song, ?kind of blue?. This song was released on August 17, 1959. The band performs equally well on the second track, "king of blue" and provide a melody line that many musicians use for impromptu jam sessions because of its catchiness and simplicity. It is a pleasant set up for the next tune called "blame it on my youth". The way forward, yet reflecting on the past, so simple yet so complex, all captured in this amazing piece, feel the beauty of the quintet unfold as you play through these pieces, amazing. Kind of blue is one of the most critically acclaimed the greatest songs of all time. The musical element of this song is played by different kinds of style, which I believe gave it a beautiful song. Miles