Concert Review
Part I
On Thursday, December 5th, 2013, I had the pleasure of attending the vocal fusion and celebration concert which was held at Shark Tank, Kendall campus Koffee House. On the vocals were Michelle Gregory, Brigette Castro and Dayana Corton taking the soprano, Cindy Lopez and Melinda Rodriguez on alto, Alex Marrero and Jovanni Gaggero on tenor and finally Pedro Vila, Brian de Jesus and Wesly Martinez on the bass. The instrumentalists included Gabriel Godoy on the bass, Jeremy Whitman on the drums and Gerald Lyn was the guitarist. Dr. Tim Brent was the director for both the celebration and vocal fusion.
Vocal fusion adds a unique taste to songs performed, making the audience discover different aspects of the song. Throughout the concert, thirteen songs were performed. “All Night Long” by Lionel Richie was the first song to be performed in celebration. It featured Yolanda Mayor, Joe Barrios, Christian Angel and Gaby Martinez. It is a 1985 classic that still entertains listeners with its moderate tempo. The performers displayed their immense talent in the music (Prouty, 2012, 37). Their voices were synchronous with the beat and gave the audience a powerful beginning that promised more to come later in the night.
Another of their performances was the 1970 classic by Simon and Garfunkel called “Bridge Over Troubled Water”. In contrast with Lionel Richie’s “All Night Long”, this song has a slow tempo. It started slow with the vocalists capturing the somber mood of the audience and gradually increased, becoming louder and louder until the vocals met at the top in a loud symphony and then changed the dynamics of the song almost immediately returning again to a moderate level until the song finally concluded. The audience were deeply moved and maintained a brief silence just after the song had ended before applauding for quite some time.
Part II
The performance was made at the request of the Director of Miami Dade College, Dr. Tim Brent. The band that was playing at the concert used the style of the Ornette Coleman, one of the renowned innovators of the free jazz movement in the 60s. The band used four saxophones comprising 2 altos, 1 tenor, 1 baritone, then there were two trombones, two trumpets and instruments that set the rhythm. It was quite interesting to watch it all at once performing together so skillfully. The pieces were relaxed to listen to as anticipated.
Two songs that appealed to me were ‘All Night Long’ that was produced in 1970s and ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ similarly produced in the 70s. From the song ‘All Night Long’ I noticed a number of improvisations and solos (Forney, and Joseph, 1991, 21). At the start of the song, it reminded me of Brass Band’s funeral service that took place in New Olean’s fashion. As for the other song, ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ I could not fail to notice that the instruments were not in cohesion with each other, but were improvising. I can say that this style of playing the instruments could be termed to as ‘cool jazz’ (Prouty, 17). In the two songs, there were a number of improvisations when compared to the composed parts and the main instrument was the alto saxophone.
The whole concern in regard to the performance was well presented and managed and the bands were cohesive with each other without the use of words. The performance did not have vocals, they used the bass guitar. The guitar made the rhythm to flow in a beautiful way and the melody came out sweetly.
The performance was well played with good work being in keeping the tempo. The most significant aspect was the movements made. He hunched the guitar to play the instrument, arching his back front and backwards in line with the melody and sounds that were produced by the guitar. It appeared as though he moved with the music. His movement with the music were in great cohesion with the music and flowed well with his improvisations.
The music was not composed by the instrumentalists, but by Ornette Coleman. It was basically in classic origin. The music came into inception in the 60s making the performance contemporary. The only words that was made by the band was when the lead instrumentalist issued a short speech of the work Coleman did. As I was getting informed of the work that Coleman did and listening to the songs that he produced. I was quite charmed by the several tones and rhythmic trends that realized the actual culture of the oppressed and in a manner that came to criticize any form of prejudice that was there. The sounds were mellow and so the setting of the club. The people who came for the concert were much relaxed.
The music appeared varied in how it was produced. The order appeared to be chronologically though it was not actually chronologically, it lay in the lines of ordering in the manner the music moved in the most appropriate order (Forney, and Joseph, 1991, 29). Additionally, this went on while trying to be chronologically accurate as they could. The sound produced by the music was not to a great extent varied. It was technically varied and had a number of sounds and tempo that marched with the songs. The flow was quite beautiful that the variation I could have acquired appeared seamless.
Part III
The performance was quite entertaining, I liked the music and appreciated his selection of songs were quite good. As for being involved in the Coleman performance, I would say that it was entertaining enough to make me feel part of it. It made me feel connected to it and the rhythm.
In conclusion, this review of Coleman’s performance involved performance of popular jazz music that involved several pieces and improvisations that added an appeal and beauty to the whole performance. The performance goes above other concerts that we have attended and the experience created a new world of music and a growing appreciation for this type of music. The people who attended and the flow of music offered me with a new experience and feeling that I can say surpassed other music I was used to listening.
Works Cited
Forney, Kristen and Joseph Machlis. The Enjoyment of Music: Essential Listening Edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1991. Print.
Prouty, K. Knowing Jazz: Community, Pedagogy, and Canon in the Information Age. Mississipi: Univ. Press of Mississippi. 2012. Print.
