I will be analysing Preservation Hall Jazz Band’s performance of La Malanga at Apogee Studios in Santa Monica, California. This is the home of KCRW’s Apogee Sessions, in which this band are performing at. Many artists have used these recording studios during its short but interesting history, such as The Rolling Stones, Mick Jagger, John Mayer and many others. The studio has also seen a huge variety of live performances from well-known artists from a range of different genres; from Vampire Weekend to Queens Of The Stone Age.
As for the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, they have a huge long-standing history of around sixty years and people often say that their name is closely associated with the spirit of New Orleans. Some of their most famous songs are ‘Short Dressed Gal’ and ‘Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea’ featuring Poulo Nutini on vocals. Their newest album, ‘A Tuba To Cuba’ was hugely inspired by their trip to Cuba. It goes hand in hand with their documentary that they filmed during the recording of this album.
Venue And Audience
I feel like this band works well in this venue as they do not have a huge following so going to a large venue or would not work. Their music isn’t mainstream so playing at popular festivals would mean that hardly anyone would know the songs as the festival-goers would have come for the more mainstream artists. However, if they performed at a festival that specialises in jazz, blues, soul etc their performance would go down a lot stronger as its exactly what the audience came to hear.
This demographic is an older generation so they are more likely to enjoy older styles of music such as jazz, blues and soul. The performance was also held in America, in which many genres like jazz originated from. This performance was a ticket sale only so people in the audience would all be fans of their music anyway.
I would say that this audience is split between physical and online. This is because the venue capacity is quite small so not many people will have been physically there however this performance has had thousands of views online; even more than the number of people there. However many of these views might be people coming back to this video to watch it again because they enjoyed it so much!
Communication
The band has an extremely convincing communication with the audience. This can be shown through their constant movement around the stage which shows energy and confidence. They make gestures to the audience like clapping their hands which encourages the crowd to join in, therefore making the whole performance bubbly and vibrant.
The trombone player often says things into the microphone to encourage the crowd to clap and dance along. He also points to certain band members after their solo, asking them to respond with a round of applause, even before the song has ended. This is very common in jazz performances as the complex solos played by skilled musicians often deserve their own applause and support from the audience. This does not happen in many mainstream performances as solos (especially of that difficulty) are much less common.
As well as brilliant communication with the audience, they also present terrific communication between them as an ensemble. This is clearly shown through the constant reassurance they give to each other in the performance. They are often looking at each other and talking between themselves about the song. (This can be seen at 3:36; the saxophonist on the right turns to the trumpet player and says something, then turns back around to face the keys player). This shows that they have confidence over each others ability and that they are enthusiastic.
Stage Presentation
They show lots of stage presence during this set. Because of how small the stage is, they don’t really need to move around too much to make full use of the stage. Despite this, even with little space around them, they still manage to move around (especially the trombone player) and put on a compelling show. Even the double bass player moves around as much as he can at times despite having such a large instrument which shows his passion to put on a lively show.
The lighting in this is quite low-key but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. They have small spotlights to simply light up the stage so the act can be seen, and strings of fairy lights to add warmth and an almost cosy aesthetic to the performance. This goes very well with the genre of music as jazz can often be seen as chilled and calming. I feel like high-key lighting would be too over the top here as it is such an intimate show and the musicians as prominent as they are in this video.
The musician’s presentation of themselves is on point here as they are all dressed in formal clothing; quite normal for a professional and traditional jazz show. If they were dressed more casually, it would seem less official and more of a relaxed performance which might not be the feel they are going for. The artists also show good presentation through their facial expressions. In most of the production they have huge grins on their faces, which shows they are actually enjoying the performance as much as the audience. When the crowd can tell the band is enjoying the performance as well, it makes them appreciate the show more.
Musical Competency
This performance does not need much of a backline because of how small the venue is and how loud most of these instruments are. However to further accentuate the volume, the brass instruments have their own microphones and the drums have overhead microphones. The keyboard needs its own speaker and the double bass is electric meaning it has to be plugged into an amplifier. Vocal microphones can be seen however they only get used when they shout into the audience. They also have monitor speakers so they can hear themselves and overhead speakers so the audience can hear them.
They present musical techniques like impressive drum fills and solos. Almost all of the performers had some form of solo which shows everyone’s skills with their instrument and makes the performance eccentric and unrepeatable.
Dynamics- They show a great sense of dynamics here as when certain players have a solo, other instruments drop out or play significantly quieter so they are not overshadowing the solo. The dynamics get louder during the bridge, before the next solos starts.
Rhythm- This song has triplets during the bridge. The drums use syncopation in specific areas when he accents the bell of the ride on the offbeat of the bar. The use of syncopation is very common in jazz and is seen as one of the key elements of that genre. The song also uses polyrhythms when the multiple different instruments are all playing different rhythms at the same time. This is another technique which is common in jazz and it shows difficulty and uniqueness.
Structure- The structure in jazz pieces are usually quite unconventional compared to other genres as it has lots of solos. The structure of this song is hard to tell in some places however it seems to go; intro, chorus, sax solo, bridge, trumpet solo, bridge, piano solo, sax solo, bridge, trombone solo, bridge, trumpet solo, bridge.
Instrumentation- The instruments in this song contain; drum kit, keyboard, two saxophones, trombone, double bass and trumpet. These instruments are very typical for jazz songs but even though it doesn’t contain vocals, it still makes for a strong and full texture.
Tempo-This song is around 128 BPM which is classed as allegro. This means it is fast, lively and bright. This speed is typical for upbeat, modern jazz as it can be danceable because it is so high-spirited.
Harmony- Many harmonies are used with the instruments of this song, especially during the repeated phrase that occurs throughout almost all of the song (except for the bridges, but they do harmonise here as well.). The keyboard starts the base melody of the ostinato at the start and the brass instruments join in with their harmonies.
Conclusion
Overall, I think that this song was very well performed in the fact that they have very convincing communication between themselves as a band and to the audience by using gestures and speech which worked fantastically. Their stage presentation was perfect for this genre and venue; there may not have been compelling light shows but I feel like this is not needed anyway as it would change the intimate and formal mood of the performance. The set was very fluent throughout which made a brilliant delivery and showed their confidence off. The thick texture of the jazz instruments and the allegro tempo makes for a suitable song for this band as it is exciting and danceable for the audience and even the group themselves!