Jazz Band
Over the past couple of years on the music course at Bradford college, I have been privileged to have been presented with a large amount of performance opportunities. These have mainly consisted of me performing either jazz standards or arrangements of popular music. Although I did have some experience in composing in the second project of the first year, it is until recently that I have begun to develop my own style as a composer and write some interesting instrumental pieces. I mainly put this down to the confidence and technique I have developed as a performer over the past couple of years which has allowed me to develop my writing technique as well as my harmonic knowledge. I have always wanted to be able to create music that truly reflects my opinions or emotions and I believe that my ability to do this has largely increased. I therefore would like to use my final project in order to develop my musical ideas within a band. I will talk more about the musicians who have inspired me to create this style of music in the research tab. Excitingly, the sound that I want to create is growing in popularity in the UK and world jazz scene which is amazing to witness and also very inspiring to see develop.
The two main styles that I will be focusing on are ambient and jazz funk. A huge icon in the ambient scene at the moment, Olafur Arnalds, is currently on a European tour which recently came to Leeds Town Hall and sold out at £30 a ticket which shows how popular ambient music has become with artists including Oafur Arnalds and Nils Frahm leading the way on the scene. It is amazing to see the variety of instrumentation and technology that these artists are using as well as some of the concerts that they perform at. Both Arnalds and Frahm often play over two hour sets with incredible light shows being a huge part of their image.
In terms of Jazz funk and other styles associated with this genre, there has been a huge rise in popularity across the UK and festivals such as Shambala, Womad and Love Supreme are full of bands and artists attracting large crowds. Leeds also has a very vibrant scene for jazz funk with Leeds college of music creating a great foundation for large experimentation in the city’s music scene. Big bands on the UK jazz scene include Nubiyan Twist who mix funk, afrobeat, hip hop and dub to create a really interesting sound. Afrobeat is currently very popular in the UK and as a major influence in the new wave of jazz music being created.
Jazz has appealed to me massively over the past couple of years and I love watching artists who can improvise incredibly well as well as the crossovers that they have created. It is great to see so many new strands developing on the jazz scene and jazz becoming more popular with people my age.
I think it is interesting to see how the streaming services have had an effect on the music industry as you can essentially pick your own music to listen to twenty four hours a day and according to (Forbes.com, 2019) the amount of music that Americans listen to per week as well as the music being uploaded is sky rocketing. As it is so easy to record now and to release your music on to the platforms, there is a growing amount of young musicians creating and uploading music. Prior to the streaming platforms, many people relied on the radio in order to discover new music, however according to (Post, 2019) streaming has vastly overtaken the radio in this category.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/articles/523424bd-eae1-4fc7-bf17-56ece01a2a2f
The above link is a really interesting insight into the predictions of how the music industry will develop in 2019.
Overall it looks like music is going to become much more diverse and globally affected in 2019. I think that streaming platforms and ways of promoting music on social media have reached new heights and it is totally viable to just promote yourself as a musician through social media. This means that artists such as Billy Eilish who are making music in their bedrooms can take the no1 spot without having to be a part of a major label.
Musicians are therefore becoming much more entrepreneurial as a musician is now expected to create, produce and market their own work to a high standard. This is great in a sense that anyone can now record and release high quality music with a low budget, however it will be interesting to see what the major labels do to combat this. We are now hearing music from people and places that were never really represented before and it is really exciting to see some of the music coming out.
So many bands are crossing and mixing so many genres , that genres are almost becoming redundant. For example many of the musicians that I would regard as jazz musicians are fusing influences of hip hop, r and b and afro beat to create new and interesting sounds. Many artists are using instruments that you would associate with being more classical in jazz and indie music.
It therefore feels like the perfect time to be making jazz music as there are so many exciting bands currently on the scene and there seems to be a renewed interest within the younger generation.As I mentioned before, social media has a huge part i the promotion of new music and therefore it will be important to utilise this tool as much as possible with the new band.
The rise of streaming also means that songs no longer necessarily have to be manufactured in terms of length so as to be played on the radio. This is meaning that many bands are releasing much longer songs and therefore much longer albums.
Overall having the knowledge that so many jazz bands are financially viable and are causing a huge influence on the musical scene has allowed me to be really energised and excited for being part of a jazz fusion band. The fact that there are so many venues in Leeds and demand at festival makes me think that there could be a bright future with this band going forward, as long as we do it right.