I went to see the Brazz concert on the 6th of March 2019 at UBC. The concert was held during the noon hours in the Barnett Hall of the music building. It encompassed seven pieces of music in totality that featured a jazz instrumental sound.The ensemble consisted of five trumpets, four trombones including a bass trombone, three french horns, , a piano, a tuba, drums, a euphonium, a percussion and a bass however it was missing the saxophone which is key brass instrument at a jazz concert. The pieces were energetic, fast paced and were primarily lead by the trumpets and trombone with either one performing a solo in each of the seven pieces . The ensemble was lead by Fred Stride who played a double role as a pianist as a result of which his conductor duties were minimally expressed. Following the same reasoning unlike a conductor in a contemporary ensemble who stands at he head of the orchestra he resided at the piano.
The first song performed is called “Sleeping Bee” by Arlen, which was an energetic piece that kick started the show. This fast pace beginning is similar to that established in the concerto exposition in the 18th century during the Mozart era that we have studied in class. This grandeur continued and expanded in the following piece, Fanfare for the Common Man by Copeland. This piece contrasted the previous one as it took on a more dramatic renaissance flare. The religious undertones took me back to 15th and 16th century music. The loud rhythmic pounding of the drums created a ceremonious ambience reminding of a ritual. The piece was slow paced in comparison with the previous song that was upbeat and fast paced. This piece heavily featured the percussion and brass instruments giving it a well-rounded homophonic effect. The next piece, which was the “Jitterbug Waltz by Waller focused on the piano and xylophone rather than the entire ensemble. There was a repetitive harmonic pattern almost like a bass ostinato by the xylophone popular in the Baroque era that was repetitively ingrained into an enchanting tune played by the piano. After this came “El Camino Real” by J.J. Johnson, similar to the first piece with an upbeat jazz rhythm. The last three songs Higher Groovin’ by Stride, Nite Life by Nelson and Close Your Eyes by Petkere involved a larger range of the ensemble and came of as more conventional in my eyes.
Each piece featured a solo with the rest of the ensemble acting as an accompaniment. This allowed the audience to get a clearer picture for that brief part of the tune. My personal favourite part was the solo as it allowed me to focus on one instrument unlike the other sections which came across as distracting. Furthermore this ensemble involved many intricate musical features that we have studied in class that I began appreciating due to the concert. It helped me envision these features in a real life setting through a contemporary take on more classical music.