Live Jazz Concert Review

Robert Culbertson and Michael Lington directed the Live Jazz Concert that I attended. The concert presented eight songs inclusive of Say What, Do you really love me, All about you, Back in the day, So good, Come on up, On my mind, and Get it on. The performers presented using a wide range of instruments such as the guitar, the piano, the violin, the saxophone, the trumpet and the drum set. The performers are widely known jazz music musicians who are popular in the jazz music world. They have made many jazz covers and presentations and as such have such a considerable understanding of the jazz music. Their presented songs were drawn from their different albums and hence they presented the elements of the jazz music in full.

The piano and the drum set were some of the most notable instruments that were used in the concert. The piano and the drums were used more than any other instruments. The pianist was always at bay noting the differences in the tone of the performers. They were used for making the rhythmic section of the presentation where they made the rhythm of the presentation to be made more evident in the concert. From a distance, the pianist was following n the change that the performers made and played the chords depending on the change that the presenter was making including a change in the song made, the change of intonation among other observation (Ward, Ken and Winton 103). For instance, the transition between the Say What and Do you really love me, there was a change in intonation from a high tone to a low tone. The pianist was responsible for making the changes. The pianist improvised the melodies by playing single notes using the right hand while comping the chords using the left hand. The piano, therefore, is responsible for making the melody and the rhythm of the song.

The drum was also used in shaping the rhythm of the concert effectively. The drummer's primary job was to keep the beat steady. It was on an infrequent occasion that one could note a change in the rhythm of the songs. The drummer ensured that the rhythm of the song was steady by ensuring that they complimented the performers. The drummers were also quick in implementing the rhythmic accents whenever there was a change in the rhythm. The rhythmic cadences of the songs were prepared in such a great manner. The drum was also evident in ensuring that the excitement the performance was guaranteed. The drummers were quite interested in the performance ensuring that the audience remained interested due to the rhythmic emotions that were made by the drummers. The feelings remained throughout the performance due to the different approaches that the drummers made use of the drum set. The role of the drum set is, therefore, that of accompanying the melody and excitement.

The improvising of the melody was made by the guitar, the violin, and the trumpet. The violin was used in the imitation of the human voice. The guitar and the violin set the melody in such an effective way (Bennett, Richard and Peterson 35). They set the melody by changing and agreeing to the individual solos of the performers. While the two performers had different approaches to make the presentations, they were accessed by the guitar and the violin immensely. Individual solos were very well raised up the guitar. The playing of the guitar could shift with the performer, and be concerning the song that they were performing. A transition of the rhythm with the change in the song could be easily noted as a result of utilization of the guitar tune. With a corresponding tune from the trumpet, the improvisation of the melody and rhythm were evident throughout the performance.

The Jazz music that was presented could be assumed to be contemporary Jazz. The period after the 1980s saw the rise of contemporary Jazz, a genre whose main concentration was in contemporary matters that revolved around the society. The focus of this music is on the issues that happen in the community or at least on the issues that are of pertinence to the people then. Among the eight songs presented, six of them revolved around contemporary matters that are of high relevance in the United States. Most of the songs were concerning the contested and argued about a topic of love that is so much impactful on the young generation in the country. Seeing that love is so hugely contested about, the two performers use the tone and with ultimate creativity, improvisation, and harmony to make show how the current generation feels about love (Shipton 12). The song Do you really love me, for instance, shows the betrayal in love, a contemporary issues in the society. The instrumentals of the song are also inclined to some love angle with a stylish sophistication being witnessed such that the vocal jazz sounds like some R&B or some pop culture inclusion.

The Jazz techniques that were so evident in the performance are the Jazz harmony and the Jazz Improvisation. While presenting the two performers could make alternating approaches in the manner in which they sang. The instruments and the singing of the performers were in active harmony such that the rhythm of the singing agreed with the melody of the instruments. Jazz harmony was a technique that made the performance lively and attractive. Jazz improvisation was also evident and the performance. Comping could be easily noted from the use of the guitar and the trumpet. The two techniques used together made the performance to be outstanding.

The song All about you was a particular song that crowned the concert. Though the choruses are different, a good transition from one chorus to the other. The first stanza starts on a low not. The verse welcomed the audience with the depiction of a man in love and who wishes to show appreciation to their woman in a kind of romantic way where a low tone is necessary. The sound rises in the second and the third stanzas with the rhythm between them varying. The instruments, however, delay a little bit from the second stanza with a fair inclusion of a fast tone and a slower tone and bass and soprano in varying proportions. In the third stanza which is the last, the intonation goes low and stops with a base to probably depict that a male was passing the message.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the jazz concert I attended was a rather interesting one that gave me an excellent direct interaction with jazz music. It was a rather lengthy one but gave me a fair view of how the performers use equipment and their voices to make exciting jazz music. Various instruments such as the violin, the guitar, the piano, the trumpet and the drum set were used for different uses, the piano and the drum specifically being used for making the melody and rhythm while the guitar, the violin, and the trumpet were used for improvisation. The concert was, therefore, an attractive one that gave a better scope of jazz music and the freedom the artists have while performing it.

Works Cited

Bennett, Andy, and Richard A. Peterson, eds. Music scenes: local, translocal and virtual. Vanderbilt University Press, 2004.

Shipton, Alyn. A new history of jazz. Continuum International Publishing Group, 2007.

Ward, Geoffrey C., Ken Burns, and Wynton Marsalis. Jazz: A history of America's music. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2000.