NO REHEARSAL MARCH 16 (March Break) Practice with a friend is more fun! This is a good time to work on long tones and air support, nail down those tricky rhythms with slow, precise practice, and try the piece up to tempo (Metronome markings below). We will need good “chops” to play a one hour concert on April 20.
Glenn Morrison will join us for a full-band clinic on March 23 – our next rehearsal. O’Brien’s pub following rehearsal is the plan.
Good listening: CBC Program Sunday Edition (host Michael Enright) – Jazz For People Who Hate Jazz – https://www.cbc.ca/news/jazz-for-people-who-hate-jazz-1.5479857
March Rehearsal Review/Plan: we did a read-through rehearsal of our 6 pieces, three from the fall, plus a past piece being considered for our performance at Stillwater Creek in Bell’s Corners:
It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got that Swing) Metronome 152
Puttin’ On The Ritz – M 150
Mercy, Mercy, Mercy (Pamela/Errol and John, solos next?) – M 108
Ain’t No Mountain High Enough – M- 118
Cousin Mary (Pamela, Chris and Harry – solos next week) -M 132
Respect (Piero or Chris? – solo next week) – M 112
Green Onions (Chris, Pamela/Errol solos next week) – M 123
Fall pieces to bring back:
Ain’t No Sunshine – M 84
Afro Blue – M 80 / 155
Blue Bossa – M 148
These pieces will be inserted in the middle of our concert at Stillwater:
Stay Cool –
Feelin’ Good
Moondance –
EVENT REMINDERS:
April 4 JJB Social Event:
Enjoy an evening of great jazz, provided by the ONHB band Two Beats Ahead. We hope to reserve at least two tables for JJB. All proceeds go to Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind. April 4 at Orchard View. Tickets and carpooling will be arranged at rehearsal (I now have the tickets in hand). If you can offer a ride, please indicate on the sign-up. Tickets are $20 in advance and are also available online Events@guidedogs.ca. Don’t forget to order your cheese plate ($10) in advance at 613-692-7777.
Community Concert: Stillwater Creek Retirement Residence, Monday April 20
ONHB Jazz Band Concert, including JJB, DJB and TBA: Friday, April 17, 2020 at St. Thomas D’Aquin ( Kilborn, near Bank)
QUOTES:
“The Jazz Process” – book by jazz musician and author Adrian Cho
About the book – “Adrian Cho’s insight into high-performance teams is drawn from his personal experiences in music, business, and software engineering. […] I highly recommend The Jazz Process to anyone seeing to learn how to build agile, effective teams – regardless of your field of endeavor.” Mike Milinkovich, Executive Director, Eclipse Foundation
“Great musicians, like successful business people and top athletes, constantly balance individual contributions and elegant teamwork. The gems of individual performance are almost worthless without the team framework. In a jazz band, trust and respect among the musicians are indispensable. Deep listening and a passion for the task at hand are equally important.” – John Goldsby, Bassist and Author
From the book:
“Synergy is present when any ensemble or company of artists gives a great performance. […] the combined result of all the musicians and a conductor performing together is greater than the sum of all the individual participants working alone.”
(regarding innovation and improvisation): “Described by some people as “making it up as you go along”, it is this process of real-time composition on which many people tend to focus in their attempts to describe the unique qualities of jazz. They miss two important points: First, the ability to compose in real time is based on years of training and experience. It’s not as simple as choosing random notes in the spur of the moment. Second, and more important, although they may choose specific notes in the moment, the greater goal of a jazz musician is to create something unique.”
Listening Links from the Fall pieces:
Fall Session:
Ain’t No Sunshine (1970 Bill Withers/ arr R. Stitzel) medium blues rock (84) F minor
Blue Bossa (1965 Kenny Dorham/ arr M. Sweeney) moderate Latin (148) G minor
Afro Blue (1959 Mongo Santamaria/ arr M. Sweeney) ¾ time slow (80) then Afro Latin (160)