Define Jazz.
By definition it’s strong yet flexible in sound and composed of rhythmic understructure. There are basic tunes, chord patterns and a highly sophisticated harmonic idiom.
With Blue Note 7s’ performance at Columbia Colleges’ Music Center Concert Hall came all this and more. This all star band features septet comprising pianist and musical director Bill Charlap, trumpeter Nicholas Payton, tenor saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, alto saxophonist/flutist Steve Wilson, guitarist Peter Bernstein, bassist Peter Washington, and drummer Lewis Nash. They came out to celebrate the 70th Anniversary of the Blue Note Legacy. And with these jazz musicians came a following unlike any I’ve seen. There were old folks, youngsters and most importantly college students.
As the band opened up, the audience like your typical spectator seemed anxious enough. From the quiet throughout the crowd the band knew what needed to be done. They passionately let sound loose and while their harmonies came together the audience indulged itself into the jazzy relief. As their sound increased we could hear the fierceness of what Blue Note 7 had to offer us for the night. What to be expected was no longer unknown and from the approvals shouts, whistling and oh yeahs the audience knew without a doubt that this concert hall was the place to be.
Announcing their next song, Blue Note 7’s sound shifted suddenly. It came off lighter as they gave tribute to the late Jackie Mclean, playing, “A Ballad for doll,” a song he wrote for his wife Dollie. You could feel the romance within this song. It spoke even with the lack of words. Their sheet music spat variation and with their next piece “Mosaic,” came the more in depth jazz feel. Solos and ensemble improvisations were spot on. The musicians were covert in their approach at first then broke out into intense instrumental scores that intermingled with the crowd. Each band member stood out. The trumpeter, bassist and drummer really did it of me here. They were intense and bold taking full advantage of their solo pieces. Rehearsed or improvised they pleased.
The crowd roared for more as the band thanked everyone then exited stage left. Cheering continued and to our surprise the band came back out all too eager. They played Party time, and shook the concert hall.
Blue Note 7 will be traveling the world throughout 2009 during their 70th Anniversary Tour
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I really like the opening of your review; I think it sets the perfect tone for what follows. I like how you give a bit of background information on the tribute, "A Ballad for Doll" (brief enough to inform without being distracting). I really like the sentence, "The musicians were covert in their approach..." This perfect relates back to your opening definition of jazz!
ReplyDeleteYour paragraphs paint a pretty picture, but you are missing some commas here and there. Another thought to consider is to maybe add in some more specifics about certain band members; what made the drummer, bassist etc. stand out for you?
Lovietta, the opening of your blog is great, I thought you really started off strong. I liked how you described some of their songs, and how you described their music. Without seeing them, I would know what to expect. Some changes you could make would be to go more into detail about the band, and more of the songs they played-- what you thought was good, and what you thought was bad. Overall though, I enjoyed reading your blog. Good job!
ReplyDeleteI too really enjoyed the opening of the review, and thought that you also gave some good background, but I agree with healy that you could add somemore detial on the band and a little more on the pros and cons of the show.
ReplyDeleteI think that you have a couple awkward sentances that you could revise to make this review even better like "The trumpeter, bassist and drummer really did it of me here... Rehearsed or improvised they pleased." I think in the begining you ment "for" instead of "of" and in the end I get what your saying but it didn't come off as very clear on the first time reading it.
I also think that it would have ended much much stronger if you would cut out the last sentance "Blue Note 7 will be traveling the world throughout 2009 during their 70th Anniversary Tour" because the one before it already ended the review.
I thought this was a good review, and with a little revision it could even be that much stronger, good work.
Great review! You mixed your personal experience with the band and your objective critique of the music very well.Your observations were clear and concise. You didn't make your opinion too strong at the same time your word choices seemed well thought out. I especially liked this like:
ReplyDelete"The musicians were covert in their approach at first then broke out into intense instrumental scores that intermingled with the crowd." You pretty much sum up the kind of experience it is.
Everything was actually pretty well written. There were a few phrases that could be reworded and you could probably notice them if you re read this a few more times. Example: "As the band opened up, the audience like your typical spectator seemed anxious enough. From the quiet throughout the crowd the band knew what needed to be done." I feel like this can be reworked a little bit. Maybe shorten it to one sentence.
Other than that great!
You've got a really interesting way of introducing your review. It is tricky to start something off the way you did without sounding cheesy, but you didn't sound cheesy at all.
ReplyDelete"Jazzy Relief" is a really neat term, one I may use in the future.
I saw the same show, and would agree with a lot of what you've written.
There were only two things that stood out to me as not being up to par.
The first is the length. It seems a little short.
The other is some of your adjectives. It almost felt like you were trying to be really creative with your descriptive words and as a result I found myself skipping over them. You have great words, but if you have too many then they lose their importance.
Overall, I like the review.