Concert Analysis: The University Jazz Combos Concert

The University Jazz Combos concert did not focus on formality the way I originally believed it would. Instead of walking into a concert hall to see the performers dressed in black, already set up, and just finishing tuning there was a shocking amount of color, styles of dress, and a flurry of movement. My experience from the last concert lead me to believe that a recital would be just as formal and put together as a symphony performance. In fact, the entire atmosphere of the recital hall was more relaxed than that of an orchestra concert. The overall atmosphere spoke to the type of music presented.

As stated before the concert was not what I was expecting. I enjoyed it more than I believed I would, it certainly isn’t my new favorite type of music, but understanding aspects of it gave me a greater appreciation for the music and the musicians. Things such as a recognizable basso ostinato set by the base player were a familiar starting point. When the soloists needed an accompaniment the bassist varied the continuous rhythm to compliment what the soloist was playing, otherwise, the beat was …show more content…
Movement was a large part of the performance. The saxophone players didn’t simply sit and play, they walked from one side of the stage to another, moved behind other players, and even seemed to converse while they played. The bassists and drummer even discussed something as they played The Grind. Even the audience was more involved, clapping during the songs and dancing along with the music. Overall, this performance was more inclusive than the previous one I went to. The performance wasn’t classical music, it was jazz, but the smaller group had the same effect that I believed classical chamber music aimed to achieve. I can understand why the popularity of chamber music grew in the classical period. It was easier to connect with the performance when the entire setting felt more