Feb
14
Brass Shout Chorus
In addition to the sax soli I wrote for my arranging class last semester, I also wrote a brass shout chorus. This assignment required parts for four trumpets and four trombones over a 12-bar blues progression. The style was to be loud, punchy, and syncopated.
As mentioned in the sax soli post, I plan to write later about the harmonizing and voicing concepts I learned during this process. Have a listen. They were sight-reading, so be nice.
Here's the recording, courtesy of the Fall 2010 SDSU Jazz Ensemble.
David Wilken (16 Feb 2011 at 9:31am)
Nice! I enjoyed your sax soli as well. Out of curiosity, what is your impression of how they turned out? In retrospect, would you change anything? Did you do a completed chart as part of your arranging class?
Joe (21 Feb 2011 at 4:48pm)
Hi David, thanks for listening!
One slight bummer about the end result was the correction/feedback process from the instructor. His standard procedure is to mark up each step with a red ink machine gun. He calls them all suggestions, and it's up to the student to use his notes or not, but we have to at least do something different in all the places he marked. And since we're doing this for a grade, it's easiest to just use his suggestions, provided we like how they sound. The problem then is that the final product is not mine alone, but somewhat co-written by the instructor. I have to strike a balance between my own standards and the instructor's.
What I'd prefer is to just start over with each compositional submission. All the feedback we get is wonderful and useful, but I'd rather put it to use in the next piece I write rather than conforming the current one to someone else's ideas. Of course, that would make the instructor's job that much harder, so I'm happy writing my own stuff on my own time.
As far as the recordings go, I think they're nearly solid. They were both 2nd takes, minutes after the first time these players saw the music. Given maybe five more minutes of ironing out a few problem areas, I think they could have been perfect.
The arranging class is actually in two sections. The second is happening in the current spring semester, and the students will each write a full big band chart. I'm auditing the class, as I don't need it to graduate. I'd like to write a complete chart some day, just not while I'm trying to put on a recital and finish my degree and move.
Joe