Seven Strategies for Interpreting Articulation in Your Big Band 

Reprinted from the Spring 2020 OMEA Journal.

            It is jazz festival season! All across Oregon, thousands of high school music students competing in jazz festivals in order to demonstrate their hard work, get feedback from knowledgeable judges, and ultimately dig deeper into this music. I judge many of these festivals. Recently I heard twenty-eight bands at a regional festival in my area. All of the bands played well, but by and large the handful of truly great performances I heard all had one…

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SO YOU WANT TO GO TO MUSIC SCHOOL? 

It is audition season! Across the country, high school seniors are preparing to audition into various undergraduate music programs. There are a TON of great schools out there for the aspiring musician. Here are some tips for students, educators, and parents about how to navigate this process: 

INVESTIGATE MORE THAN ONE SCHOOL 

You might have your heart set on a certain school or institution, but it is worth your while to check out multiple schools. There are a lot of differences between a conservatory, a…

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Kanye West: Not a Gospel Virtuoso 

So, a couple of thoughts about Kanye's show on SNL last night: 

You can watch the video here.

The concept is really good, however Kanye has not developed his voice well enough to execute it. 

West's shortcomings as a singer are highlighted by the sparse texture of the arrangements, and the virtuosity of his collaborators. For example, the beauty, virtuosity, and expressive quality of Kelly Price's vocals in this clip from SNL (Seriously, she crushes it!) underscore West's vocal shortcomings. Furthermore…

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RETHINKING ARTISTRY IN MODERN ORCHESTRAL JAZZ 

RETHINKING ARTISTRY IN MODERN ORCHESTRAL JAZZ 
  
  
Keith T. Karns 
  
  
PREPARED FOR THE 2016 JAZZ EDUCATION NETWORK CONFERENCE 

  
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS 
January 2016 

  
INTRODUCTION 

            Big band jazz has been engaged in a quiet renaissance over the past several decades. A host of composers have been consistently pushing back boundaries in the field of jazz composition and arranging. Press reviews of recent big band and jazz orchestra records describe the music as possessing “extravagant…

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A BRIEF HISTORY OF JAZZ EDUCATION PRIOR TO 1950 

INTRODUCTION 

Current narratives on the history and development of jazz education imply that formalized jazz education is an entity beginning sometime after 1950. While this perspective captures the development of the jazz publishing industry, the expansion of collegiate jazz studies programs, and a host of camps, clinics, and other resources that have sprung up in the last sixty five years, it also seems to imply that opportunities for jazz education prior to 1950 were nonexistent. 

From a twenty-first…

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THE STUDIO RECORDINGS OF MILES DAVIS 1965-1970  

Postbop and Early Fusion



This paper will summarize the musical development and output of Miles Davis during the mid 1960s through early 1970. It will focus on the development of postbop and fusion and the various musical, personnel, business and cultural issues that led to the music’s development and reception. Live recordings will be discussed, however the primary musical documents will be drawn from the studio recordings during this period. 

INTRODUCTION 

  

Miles Davis’ output in the mid nineteen…

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Group Interaction: a new strategy for understanding the music of Woody Shaw 

 
            It is no secret that I am a fan of Woody Shaw. More than any other trumpet player, Shaw’s solos, compositions, his fiery aggressiveness, have always captivated me as both a listener and a trumpet player.
            While Shaw’s impact in jazz is well established in pedagogical circles, only a few writers have taken interest in deeper study of Shaw’s work (Gavin 2005), (Prouty 2004) (Richardson 2006), (O’Donnell 2009). The result is that while Shaw’s position in history is unassailable, it is…Read more

Deciphering Structure: Form and elements of the avant garde in Ambrose Akinmusire’s “Richard (Conduit)” 


     This year Ambrose Akinmusire has positioned himself as a new leader in modern jazz. His sophomore record for Blue Note “The Imagined Savior is Far Easier To Paint” has received overwhelmingly positive reviews from the jazz press (Barton 2014) (Woodard 2014, 26) (Chinen 2014). Since the release of “The Imagined Savior”, Akinmusire’s quintet has been headlining concerts and festivals across North America and Europe (Wilkins 2014). In addition, Downbeat Magazine has included “The Imagined Savior” in their…Read more

Composer Profile: Clare Fischer 

            I have long been an admirer of Clare Fischer’s music. Fischer is perhaps one of the most influential yet least well-known arrangers of the twentieth century. His influence is wide and far-reaching and he has made significant contributions not only to modern arranging techniques, but also to Latin jazz, and jazz piano harmony (Jazz Times 2012) (Martin, 4) (Farris 1964, 46).
            While his contributions to jazz are far reaching, this study will focus on his contributions as an arranger…Read more

Life, Death, and Meaning: Deciphering Themes in J.S. Bach’s Cantata No. 4 (BWV 4) 

           J.S. Bach is one of the most studied and most performed composers in western music. The deluge of work lionizing Bach and his music over the last century and a half has almost managed to hide the fact scholars and historians have yet to explain the power and appeal of Bach’s work. For example, in John Eliot Gardiner’s recent best-selling tome on the composer he opens with the line, “Bach the musician is an unfathomable genius…” [i] This is hardly a risky way to open a discussion on Bach, yet…Read more