Musical improvisation

patented by instrument creator and businessman Adolphe Sax in 1846, the saxophone had already missed out on much of the literature and masterworks written for other wind instruments centuries before its time. Additionally, much of the major classical musical works written for the instrument happened during its constant refinement development in Europe; allowing the saxophone to have more of a foothold in the originally American music idiom of jazz. However, the saxophone has carved out its place…

the Silk Road Ensemble as my song. This group is composed of “distinguished musicians, composers and performing artists from more than 20 countries around the world to celebrate, explore and experiment with a wide variety of cultural approaches to musical performances” (The Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma: Live from Tanglewood). At the beginning of the piece I felt very serene with just a couple of instruments playing. However, when all the instruments joined in. the piece became more exciting.…

a number of different styles during the years of its popularity and appeared under a number of different descriptive names. It is related to several earlier styles of music, has close ties with later styles of music, and was associated with a few musical "fads" of the period such as the foxtrot. Many of the terms associated with ragtime have inexact definitions, and are defined differently by different experts; the definitions are muddled further by the fact that publishers often labeled pieces…

If on the former, one is able to relax at the sound of the introspective guitar and then perk up with LoRe’s more sinuous phrasing, on the latter piece, we find unison melodies in the head and iridescent improvisations, with special highlight for the fantastic piano work developed by Zaleski who surprises with polyrhythm in his clever interspersion of chords and melodic phrases. The bandleader not only delivers his best solo on “Centre In The Woods”, a lucid…

I was the founder and concertmaster of the school woodwind quintet in the 2014-2015 school year. Convinced that a small wind ensemble would further showcase the talents of the school’s most prodigious woodwind players, I called upon several musical students in the school to form this group. Our goal was to be able to perform the woodwind quintet arrangement of Debussy’s “Petite Suite” for the Spring Music Night in May. We set a weekly rehearsal time and I handed out each person’s music,…

Although we can learn about various facts of prehistoric musical cultures from images and archeological remains, our understanding is severely limited by the lack of written record. Instruments themselves were made out of perishable materials, and few have survived. Luckily, pictures show how instruments were held and played, and in what circumstances music was used. Surviving instruments reveal details of their construction. For example, archaeologists exploring the royal tombs at Ur, a…

John Cage was an American composer that experimented with the very nature of sound and developed new ways of notating music. Cage’s ideas on composition influenced many artists such as painters, musicians, and chorographers. Cage questioned the musical preconceptions that was left from the 19th century. Arnold Schoenberg, a teacher of John Cage, called Cage “not a composer, but an inventor of genius” (Hicks, 1990). Many musicians, and to much of the public, thought Cage’s compositions…

Prolific multi-instrumentalist and composer, Elliott Sharp, has been abundantly inventive throughout his three-decade career to deserve our particular attention. His boundless musical universe encompasses completely different styles that include avant-garde jazz, experimental ensembles, free improvisation, noise rock, electronic, contemporary classical, and music for film and opera/theater. The 66-year-old Cleveland native studied several theoretical correlations on music and scientific…

Holidays tour. With soulful renditions of holiday classics, playful improvisation, and entertaining storytelling, they bring out the magic in such favorites as Count Basie’s “Jingle Bells,” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” and Billie Holiday’s “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm.” The concert was located at The Walt Disney Theater and featured works from several promising musicians who came up with an assortment of unique musical combinations. This was a great chance to witness an…

“Human Shaped Objects” The show of electronic music that I attended was Telemetry music series featuring Rob Mackay, Human Shaped Object, Grand Banks on November 9th at the Bridge progressive arts initiative. The concert began with Rob Mackay’s performance. He is a composer and a sound artist and a Senior Lecturer in Music at the University of Hull. He has received numerous accolades and awards internationally. The music he played explored repetition and was very interesting. However, the…