Raechel Watt
Kate Skinner
Introduction to Music (MUSC 1010)
13 October 2014
Music Essay
I attended the Jazz Ensembles performance on October 8. Going into it, I wasn’t too excited because I’ve never been a huge fan of jazz music. Coming out of the concert, however, I held a greater appreciation for this genre of music.
This concert was held at The Performance Hall here on campus. I was surprised at how fancy the venue was and yet the concert itself wasn’t. Since it was an “art” music performance, I was expecting everything to be more formal than it was. Instead, most of the audience came in jeans and would clap during the performances. Although the performers were much better and obviously professionals, attending this concert brought me back to my brother’s high school jazz band days – not the performance itself, just being surrounded by this audience. After performers had finished their solo, the audience would clap and cheer their names, which I was not expecting. There was also a lot of talking within the audience, which made it hard to concentrate on the music. The performance was professional, but the surroundings weren’t, which made for a more negative experience.
This concert had three different sections – the USU Jazz Ensemble, the Aggie Music Project, and the USU Jazz Orchestra. I enjoyed how the Jazz Ensemble started off the night: they simply started playing with no introduction or anything. This introduction song, “Steppin’ Up!” really got the audience excited and going. Once the ensemble had our attention, they slowed things down with “When You’re Smiling”. I loved how the director involved the audience by having us sing a line to this song, as well. One of my favorite parts of the ensemble was when the director introduced Kelin Gibbons to the stage. He was a former member of the band and I liked that he tied together the old and new band, and it also showed how much the ensemble means to each member. One thing I would have changed with...