A Concert Review of Paul Equihia Jazz Trumpet Performance - Report Example

A Concert Review of “Paul Equihia Jazz Trumpet” Performance On Wednesday, April 8th the Paul Equihia jazz ensemble took over the third concert of the semester, whose special trumpeter was Jesus Malto. The jazz ensemble performed 5 different pieces during the concert: “Daahoud”, “Delilah”, “Henry Tomasi trumpet and piano nocturne”, “one foot in the gutter” and “very early” which made the audience to get an experience of the vast majority of jazz music sounds (Lawhon 11). The trumpet performance was conducted at the studio of Brian Lynch at 8pm. The various musicians that performed in the studio included: Clifford Brown (1930-1956), Victor Young (1900-1956), Henry Tomasi (1901-1971),Clark Terry(1920-2015),and Bill Evans(1929-1980). Others in accompaniment of the musicians were: conductor: Paul Schwartz; arrangers: Kendall Moore and Paul Equihia; saxophoners: Derrick Dymalski, Derrek Smith and Joey Rosin; trumpeters: Derek Ganong, Jesus Malto and John Britton; pianists: John Britton and Tyler Giroux; tromboner: Eric Bowman; basser: Tim Smith; drummer: Jonathan Hullet and percussionist: Ryan Hecker. The Paul Equihia jazz trumpet performance transformed the Brian Lynch studio into an intimate set for jazz music. The concert was entitled Paul Equihia jazz trumpet performance, explored the rearrangement of already existing pieces by musicians causing their transformation into original pieces. To fully appreciate the concert, there was a need for inputting of a well-tuned ear for jazz (Franz and Smulyan19). This is in order to pinpoint the similarities and differences of the pieces played and their transformation. Music director Paul Equihia provided the history of the pieces as well as instructions on how to carefully listen to them. Description of Concert Performance Entirely throughout the show, the musicians did give an outstanding performance. Each of the soloists captured perfectly the emotion of the music. Every one of the musicians played with a tangible energy even when there was no solo. The first half of the performance was full of noteworthy pieces. The ensemble got the audience warmed up with “Daahoud”. The original composition by Clifford Brown was slow and flat, however, the re-arrangement by Kendall Moore literally did breathe life into the piece, with a great solo by Derrick Dymalski (Howland 10). The next piece, “Delilah” was played at a slower tempo other than the normal vocal version by Victor Young. But the solo of the tenor saxophone by Derek Smith almost rivaled Young’s. Delilah ended in a smooth transition into “a trumpet and piano nocturne”, which gave way for a flawless performance from Derek Ganong on the flugelhorn. In the next piece, “One foot in the gutter”, Paul Equihia flexed his arranging abilities. By using the ensemble subset, Paul Equihia created the famous tune’s unique variation (Lawhon 24). The piece’s highlight was a mini-duet in between the drums and the bass. Paul also creatively used the saxophones, trumpets and the trombones with each of the instrument playing along and over the other, but from a close speculation, still playing as one. It was such an exciting and creative performance. The last half ended with a strong frenzied paced “Very Early” by Bill Evans. This piece was auditory as well as stimulatory. The piece began with a beat of African nature provided via the bass, piano and percussion. Then the trombones and the trumpets chipped in, mimicking animal sounds (Howland 35). The song kept the percussion of the predecessor but with a peppier rhythm than the predecessor. This last half ended with the insane performance by drummer Jonathan Hullet. He liked teasing the audience with the quick changes in rhythm and tempo, with repeated speeding up and slowing to the standstill but picking up the pace once again. It was such a truly exciting performance. “Daahoud” “Daahoud”, composed by Clifford Brown and arranged by Kendall Moore is a song of an upbeat standard with alternate track takes of a trumpet, drums, tenor saxophone, bass and piano. In the version of the instruments of the song, a sounding consonance set a romantic mood at the song’s beginning. A piano and saxophone alternated the song’s melody as though dancing as two lovers flying up to the moon (Cullen 19). With the heated passion of the song, the texture within it changed when the bass took its melody and the drums and trumpet in the ensemble accompanied. The continuously steady rhythm got faster towards the song’s climax (Franz and Smulyan 47). At this point, the song’s dynamics were getting increasingly louder till all the instruments met at the topmost with a bang, after which the dynamics changed again in a moderated level towards the song’s conclusion. “Delilah” “Delilah” written by “Victor Young” and arranged by Brian Lynch was played the concert night by guest trumpeter Jesus Malto. The piece started with very dissonant tones in the harmony, with piano introduction and accompanying drums. The song changed into a harmony that is more consonant (Lawhon and Trifan 23). This harmony remained throughout the entire song. The song’s texture was polyphonic in between the piano and the trumpet. The song’s melody was happy and bright in some places in the song, to relaxing and cooler in other parts. The trumpet notes were held for emphasis and the tempo changed. Many dynamics were used in this song. It began with a crescendo from soft to very loud with a similar pattern to the end until the reverse of the pattern. “Trumpet et piano nocturne” The continuity of the songs was interrupted by a trumpet and piano nocturne performance, with alternate tracks of the piano versus the trumpet. This instrumental version of the jazz performance was accompanied by Paul Schwartz conducting a song written by Henry Tomasi. “One foot in the gutter” “One foot in the gutter”, composed by Clark Terry, with an arrangement from Paul Equihia, was a slow beat consonance song. The texture remained similar throughout the entire piece. The bass, drums and piano took turns throughout the performance in solo forms, and the melody. The song’s dynamics were entirely soft with increase into a moderated level before decrescending towards a softer level again. The ensemble fabulously kept on with the beat. This song was an ideal description of a cathartic experience (Howland 19). The song came with memories of the past, coupled with experiences and feelings. It came with proof that past experiences are still hanging below the surface. “Very early” “Very early” for me was a romantic song since the beginning of the first note. This song was sexy and passionate with the display of dialogue without the use of words. The ensemble played this piece steadily with alternated tracks of a trumpet, a piano and a trombone (Howland 23). The instrumental nature of the song was harmonious with the sounding of the saxophone and the percussion. From the start, the tone and melody of the song were rising up to the topmost level with a steady low rise into a moderate tone. Evaluation What made the concert attendance worthwhile? The concert was worth noting as a result of its organization from the start to the end. The transition of the musicians in each of the musical pieces played was commendable. It showed a high level of organization and cooperation among the musicians and the entire band. Additionally, this concert in its typical form was well established. Before the start, the audiences were seated waiting with various expectations. Some musicians were already on stage, playing by themselves. They were warming up just before the concert. Five minutes into the concert, the personnel manager called the musicians on the stage from the background setting (Lawhon and Trifan 16). The musicians entered from either the left or right side while the brass player entered from the left of the stage. However, the conductor entered from the right. Moreover, the concert master entered prior to the start of the concert while the oboist played note ‘A’ in allowing the tuning of instruments by musicians. Finally, the conductor came on stage and the concert ensued. What was new or different from the experience? Firstly, the venue was different. The concert was held in the studio of Brian Lynch, which was unlike other concerts that I’ve attended before usually held in a hall, theatre or a sports field. The concert was attended by over 3,000 people; the biggest audience I have ever come across in a concert meaning this specific one was sold out with many fans. Additionally, the musician’s attire was similar, and unique: long dreadlocks, sandals and inexpensive natural fiber clothes (Franz and Smulyan 13). Moreover, how the stage was lit added to the lively nature of the performance. This was further boosted by backup dancers and the projection and magnification of the song’s lyrics causing each of the attendees to follow the proceedings of the concert. Finally, the sound of the music was audible and got the audience very lively. Effect of the venue on the performance The stage setting did have much influence on the musician’s performance. The lighting of the stage provided good contrast, with alternation of bright and dull colors and with an overall orange radiance on the stage. The space on the stage was enough for all musicians including the arrangers, conductors, drummers, trumpeters, bassers, saxophones, pianists, trombones and the percussionist. Moreover, the back-up dancers had their space of performance (Lawhon and Trifan 19).The projector was in place to aid the audience in following the proceedings. Furthermore, the setting of the sound instruments on the stage was enough to support the musicians in getting their pieces audible enough. However, there was no stage banter but all of this added to the lively performance at the studio. Did I enjoy the concert? Personally, I enjoyed the concert since it was unlike any other that I’ve attended earlier. Everything from the stage setting, the musicians attire and movements, instruments, transition in between songs and the lively nature of the audience together with the differing nature of each musical piece played, made the concert my best experience. Additionally, the formal and informal conversations coupled with teasing among musicians, added up to the greatness of the performance (Howland 46). Personally, I enjoyed the third piece of “the piano and trumpet nocturne” and the last piece “very early”. In the former, the transitions between the trumpet and the piano gave a great masterpiece which was accompanied by the conductor Paul Schwartz. The latter was a good ending for the concert, since it was a romantic piece which finished the concert on a high note with a moderate note of “one foot in the gutter”. Audience response The audience at Brian Lynch studio was the most lively that I’ve ever seen, providing evidence to the fact that the performance was very lively. At the end of each piece, the conductor would drop his hands down and this was followed by the loudest applause from the audience, which got louder with the end of each subsequent piece towards the end. The commendable number of attendees-more than 3,000 is in itself an indication that the concert was sold out (Lawhon and Trifan 66). Many types of fans showed up, especially jazz music fans. However, lovers of other kinds of music were there too and you could often hear them comment on each performance while comparing it with the original performances, as well as with other music types such as hip-hop, reggae and blues. Acoustic quality of music The texture remained similar throughout the entire pieces. The bass, drums, trumpets, saxophones, trombones, drums and piano took turns throughout the performance in solo forms and the melody. The song’s dynamics were entirely soft with increase in a moderated level before decrescending towards a softer level again. The ensemble fabulously kept on with the beat (Cullen 14). To be specific, “Daahoud”, composed by Clifford Brown and arranged by Kendall Moore is a song of an upbeat standard with alternate track takes of a trumpet, drums, tenor saxophone, bass and piano. In the version of instruments of the song, a sounding consonance set a romantic mood at the song’s beginning. A piano and saxophone alternated the song’s melody as though dancing as two lovers flying up to the moon. With the heated passion of the song, the texture within it changed when the bass took its melody and the drums and trumpet in the ensemble accompanied. The continuously steady rhythm got faster towards the song’s climax (Lawhon 23). At this point, the song’s dynamics were getting increasingly louder till all the instruments met at the topmost with a bang, after which the dynamics changed again in a moderated level towards the song’s conclusion. “Very Early”, composed by Bill Evans, with an arrangement by Kendall Moore, was a slow beat consonance song. The texture remained similar throughout the entire piece. The bass, drums and piano took turns throughout the performance in solo forms, and the melody. The song’s dynamics were entirely soft with increase in a moderated level before decrescending towards a softer level again (Howland, 11). The ensemble fabulously kept on with the beat. “Delilah” started with very dissonant tones in the harmony, with piano introduction and accompanying drums. The song changed into a harmony that is more consonant. This harmony remained throughout the entire song. The song’s texture was polyphonic in between the piano and the trumpet. The song’s melody was happy and bright in some places in the song, to relaxing and cooler in other parts (Howland 45). The trumpet notes were held for emphasis and the tempo changed. Many dynamics were used in this song. It began with a crescendo from soft to very loud with a similar pattern to the end until the reverse of the pattern. “Very early” for me was a romantic song since the beginning of the first note. This song was sexy and passionate with the display of dialogue without the use of words. The ensemble played this piece steadily with alternated tracks of a trumpet, a piano and a trombone. The instrumental nature of the song was harmonious with the sounding of the saxophone and the percussion (Cullen 17). From the start, the tone and melody of the song were rising up to the topmost level with a steady low rise into a moderate tone. Deviation of live music from studio versions The studio versions of the various music deviated in many ways from the live performance of the original masterpieces. The arrangers of the various pieces including: Kendall Moore, who arranged Clifford Brown’s “Daahoud” and Bill Evan’s” Very Early”; Brian Lynch, arranged Victor Young’s “Delilah” and Paul Equihia, arranged Clark Terry’s “One foot in the gutter”. These arrangers were magnificent in changing the outcome of the various pieces (Howland 24). Moreover, the addition of various instruments caused the music to come up in a way that made the whole experience lively. It changed the slow and flat rhythms of the original masterpieces into faster, steady and more powerful ones. Effect of concert on the crowd The concert positively impacted on the audience since most of their expectations were met. It is a sure projection that even larger numbers are going to turn up in the next concert on the 22nd April with even much more expectations (Cullen 34).The experience of the performance at Brian Lynch studio made the audience appreciate jazz music a lot. Some of those that were not jazz music fans were transformed to like it at the concert. The music therefore had a positive impact on the audience attitude and take on jazz music. Conclusion In conclusion, the overall performance at the concert was great, with all the pieces played, well arranged and coming out with the vigor of modern jazz music. A total of 5 pieces was played with the ensemble that consisted of musicians, Conductors and instrumentalists. Each piece came out with a varied nature but on the overall, the rearrangement of music caused the slow and dull nature of the original songs into the lively nature of modern jazz music. The concert was great and the ensemble’s performance on the next agenda is on the 22nd April 2015; you won’t want to miss this. Works Cited Cullen, Jim. Popular Culture in American History. Boston: Wiley-Blackwell, 2013. Print. Franz, Kathleen, and Smulyan Susan. Major Problems in American Popular Culture. Boston: Cengage Learning, 2011. Print. Howland, John. Ellington Uptown: Duke Ellington, James P. Johnson, and the Birth of Concert Jazz. Michigan: University of Michigan Press, 2009. Print. Lawhon, Mark and Trifan Daniel. Classic Concerts of the 1970’s: The Encores Continue. New York: Lawhon Publications L.L.C , 2004. Print. Read More