This is the page where I will document our jazz rehearsal videos. These videos will show our progression through learning the set, and will build up to our end of term performances.
For a first time rehearsing jazz, this was not a bad effort. I know it was out of a lot of people’s’ comfort zones, including mine. There were a lot of notes misplaced and it made the song sound rough. However, we had started to get the structure down, and it flowed relatively well. The improvisation sounded very nice as well. Collectively, this was a decent performance and my own personal performance was not too bad either.
I was not here for this rehearsal. However, i think it ran really well. This definitely has the potential to be the best track in our set. The song sounded cohesive throughout, giving us a great base to build upon. Once the structure is cracked completely, the song is bound to run a lot smoother and therefore make for a much greater listening experience.
I was not here for this practice either, but blue bossa is starting to sound really nice. There is a clear improvement from the last time we played. A lot of the wrong notes that were played last time have been rectified, making for a much nicer listening experience. The structure of the song has been studied and is now flowing very nicely. Solos are sounding great, and feel very much integrated into the song, rather than something that has been put on top. If every song on our set can reach this level, we should put on a great performance.
Once again, I was not here for this practice. This was our first time rehearsing a new song. “All Blues” by Miles Davis. Our rehearsal sounded nice, despite having to stop halfway through. everyone was playing competently, and most of the time it sounded like everyone was on time and playing the right parts they were assigned. Too me, the song sounded a little too slow. However, that is just personal preference. Once again, the solos sounded great, we just need to work on not being reminded by Nic so much.
This was another practice of blue bossa, and it honestly feels like we have taken a little step back. the track did not flow as well, and there were many questions that needed to be asked. Maybe adding more and more tracks to the set has lead our concentration to be elsewhere. Nevertheless, this is still a great track, and we have a lot of time to perfect this one before it is performed live.
This is the second time rehearsing sunny. The track is sounding really nice, and is shaping up to become the best song of the set. The solos did not flow as nicely as i would have hoped them too, but this can be fixed. An overall great performance by everyone. Once the little kinks are ironed out, then we can start checking songs off the set list, we just need to regularly familiarize ourselves with them and gain a level of confidence when it comes to playing them.
In this rehearsal we played the three songs we had already learnt, “Blue Bossa”, “All Blues” and “Sunny”. The tracks are sounding really nice, but not ready to be performed in front of anyone quite yet. The tracks are flowing relatively nice, and it seems everyone is starting to get to grips with what they were playing. It is important we listen to what Nic is telling us, in order to clean up the set and get it too a nice standard. The beginning and the end of the songs need work. For me, that is one of our main issues. Once we get those ironed out, the rest of the songs should follow.
This was our first time practicing “White Christmas”. It is probably the easiest song on the set, and that’s why it sounds so great already. This one doesn’t need much work to be completed, just a few minor tweaks. This was a great performance from everyone, and this song should be a great addition to the set.
This was our first time rehearsing “Last Christmas”. I think it went rather well. I believe i gave a decent performance and was on time with all of my chords. This was also the first time I have had a solo, and I think i handled it rather well. The song is sounding great, with lots of layers coming together to build a jazzy version of the famous pop song. I think we have done the song justice and it will sound great at the end of our set.
This is another rehearsal for last christmas. The song is really starting to take shape now. There were a few misplaced notes that made the song sound rough. Once these are corrected the song should sound great. My own personal feedback would be to speed up my solo, and try to make it a little more interesting. However, sometimes in jazz less is more. This would be a great song to end on, as it is the christmas period.
This was our first time rehearsing the full set all the way through. With lots of help from Nic, the set ran relatively smooth. This will be great when we can finally get it in front of people. From the first rehearsal to here, you can really start to see how we have improved. Everyone’s confidence has had a massive boost and the set is really starting to take shape. My only criticism is the lack of knowledge when the solos are. Everyone seems to get a little confused. This isn’t a massive problem, as it only takes a quick conversation to clear up any confusion. The set is now sounding really nice, and is definitely ready for an audience. I think everyone involved has done a great job.