Today on March 6, 2019 I attended the UBC School of Music’s Wednesday Noon Hours’ “Brazz” at Barnett Hall. They were a lively, humorous and passionate brass jazz band that I had the pleasure of listening to. What had initially sparked my interest in choosing to attend this performance was that work by Paul McCartney and John Lennon were mentioned as being part of the program. As the Beatles is one of my favourite bands, it was a no-brainer for me to attend this noon hour show. When I first saw the program, I admit I may have been a bit upset when I saw that there were neither any Beatles tunes nor anything by Lennon/McCartney on schedule to be played. However, my frown was instantly turned upside down when the band started playing. Sitting in the second row, it was amazing to hear up close, the homophonic texture of each instrument when played together: the French horn, the tuba, the trombone, the trumpet in conjunction with the piano, euphonium, bass and percussion. I found this experience to be a pivotal moment of realization concerning my ability to listen and observe different elements of music that I had never noticed before. There are elements in which we have been learning in class, which I was able to apply to my enjoyment of this performance. The presenter and conductor, Fred Stride was also the pianist and also arranged many of the pieces that were performed. These pieces were:
A Sleeping Bee (Arlen)
Fanfare for the Common Man (Copeland)
Jitterbug Waltz (Waller)
El Camino Real (Johnson)
Higher Groovin’ (Stride)
Nite Life (Nelson)
Close Your Eyes (Petkere)
First of all, I noticed that all the instruments had similar sound qualities and that reminded me of the concept “consort”. Further, I noticed in all of the songs, the concept of “concerto solo”. In each of the pieces, there were at least two solos by two different instruments. During the solos, the instrument stood out on its’ own and sounded different while the rest of the band was like accompaniment such as the role of an orchestra while soloists perform. There were also hints of “concerto grosso” as well, the ripieno being the majority of the instruments playing together, while the concertino presented itself as specific groups of instruments playing a special part together. Further, in “Jitterbug Waltz”, there was use of ostinato. There was a melody that was repeated multiple times on the xylophone (escalating up and descending down) and it was clear and repeated throughout the entire piece. It seemed almost a passacaglia was built upon this ascending and descending ostinato so perhaps this piece was meant to be one.
The concepts of consort, concerto solo, concerto grosso, ripieno, concertino, ostinato and passacaglia were present during this performance and definitely not aspects of music that I would ever pay attention to if it hadn’t been for my education in this class. The material I am learning in class is enhancing my ability to appreciate and observe music in a new way. Attending these live performances are really helping me to engage with the content. If you ever have the chance to see Brazz live, I would highly recommend you go see them!