Last Monday, my jazz ensemble spent an entire day performed at two local elementary schools. This was such an amazing event for so many reasons. First, performing and sharing what we are working on is ALWAYS such a pleasure. That day, we chose to play Crunchy Frog by Gordon Goodwin, It Don’t Mean a Thing (If it Don’t Got that Swing) by Ella Fitzgerald, Land of Make Believe arranged by Victor Lopez, and China Grove arranged by Michael Sweeney.
More importantly, this was the first time many of the children got to listen to live music, something that I have always taken for granted. This made this event especially special. The first school we visited was especially excited! I vividly remember a very young child, perhaps in kindergarten, standing up and dancing throughout the event (he sat in the front row so he had enough space). A similar thing happened at the second school, where one child would open both her eyes and mouth to a comical size, exclaiming “WOW!” loudly at each song! The song they liked most was definitely China Grove due to its iconic and energetic riff and shocking about of distortion. Seeing the children respond so positively to our music was very encouraging! I really hope that we will have more chances to do similar events in the future!
After each performance, we also gave the children a chance to play around with our instruments, exploring how it feels and sounds. The music teacher at that school had told us that they were seeing a decline in music participation which is such a disappointment. Music played an large role in my childhood, teaching me both appreciation for the arts and perseverance needed to become a musician. Through the performance it was our hope to inspire more future musicians at these schools, something I try think we succeeded in doing though only time will tell.
Beyond these performances which I am very happy about, I also wanted to talk about the individual pieces we played. Of the four, I played It don’t mean a thing if it don’t got that swing and land of make believe on the electric bass.
The land of make believe begins with a beautiful duet between an alto sax and a flute horn. This duet is both slow and sensitive, truly giving the impression of passing into a dream scape or land of imagination. Then, the song transitions to an interesting latin samba rhythm that persists throughout the rest of the song.
In It don’t mean a thing (if it don’t got that swing) the song mostly follows a quarter note rhythm except for the solo section, despite what the title would suggest. That said, the swing sections were definitely my favorite segment to play, reinforcing this sentiment.
Lastly, I want to shout out the rest of my band for their talent and passion. I really enjoy performing with them these past two years!
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