Manhattan School of Music

Malachi Hunter                                             FC                                            2/11/13

Jazz Band                                                                                                       Fletcher

                                                Manhattan School of Music

            The Precollege Jazz Band rehearsal at MSM ran like a professional one. It started off smooth and the intensity built up as the rehearsal progressed. The conductor immediately jumped right into the music and the musicians had no problem. There was no time spent on warm-ups and exercises.

            The band played three of Charles Mingus’ most famous songs: Fables of Faubus, Better Get Hit In Your Soul and Goodbye Pork Pie Hat. In between the pieces when there was a break, the conductor spoke about how Charles Mingus played and who he looked up to and referenced.  The most time was spent on Fables of Faubus, which took about an hour. The other pieces took about 15 minutes each.  For the quality of the solos, I was surprised that there was no practice time given.

            The conductor focused on dynamics, articulation and overall feel and groove. The insight I gained was the soloing that he used when in his songs. Mingus would add notes that were not in key and would sound great because of the intentional dissonance. The students interacted with each other like they hang out everyday although they only interact with each other on Saturday’s.