Twitter
Facebook
Reddit
Digg
Tell us what you think!Send a letter to the editor about this or any other article in The Maine Campus.
Student musicians with a thirst for jazz will get a chance to stamp their love for the form on their transcripts after this semester. This year, the department of music at the University of Maine approved a minor in jazz, advised by associate professor Karel Lidral.
It is “a unique offering, providing both music majors and non-majors, irrespective of instrument, to participate in America’s National Treasure – jazz,” Lidral said, referring to Congress’ designation of the musical genre in 1987.
Accompanying the creation of the minor is the fledgling Chamber Jazz Ensemble, a musical troupe formed as a direct result of the new minor. Made up of a dozen members, the ensemble is advertised as the new group that is the “virtual cornerstone” of the newly created minor in jazz studies.
This past Tuesday Karel Lidral led his creation, the 2005-born University of Maine Chamber Jazz Ensemble, in their first formal performance. Lidral accompanied the ensemble on piano – or, in jazz lingo, he “comped,” playing chords that complemented the ensemble’s performance.
The ensemble played songs by jazz figures such as Eddie Harris, Herbie Hancock and Antonio Carlos Jobim. As Lidral explained, “Jazz is an art of the individual,” and the sentiment was evident in the night’s performance. The ensemble’s selections varied in energy and tempo due to individualized improvisation and playing styles. Some played with soul, others strived for technical accuracy, and others searched for balance of the two. Despite the newness of the group, their performances were polished and full of character.
With the ensemble, music majors have the opportunity to gain more jazz techniques and further exposure to the style.
“I don’t have a lot of background in jazz and I thought this class would help me to be more fluent in this genre of music,” said Danielle Sullivan, a second-year music education major. “Being a music ed. major, I feel that I should be able to know enough about jazz to be able to teach it, and these classes were a good opportunity.”
However, not everyone in the ensemble is focusing on music for their collegiate career. Veteran trumpet-player Zachary Keenan is a fourth-year public management major and joined the Jazz Ensemble because he “thought it would be a great experience being in a class that required so much musical improvisation.”
The focus of the group is to develop improvisational skills in jazz, and it showed in the performance. It was difficult to tell the difference between the prepared solos and improvised solos.
Many of the ensemble’s members have strong musical backgrounds. Sullivan, for example, has played clarinet since fifth grade and alto saxophone since eighth grade. “I keep picking instruments up,” she said. “The chamber jazz class is a really good way to jump into jazz and improv if you’ve never done it before. It’s a really relaxed atmosphere and there are people at all levels of playing.”
Lidral said that musicians of any level of experience are welcome to join the Chamber Jazz Ensemble. “It’s not an auditioned group, so it’s available to any instrumentalist on the campus. It helps to read music.”
If you’re interested in listening for yourself, the Jazz Ensemble will perform next on Wednesday, Dec. 6, from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. in the Bear’s Den at Memorial Union.
The performance, in addition to being a celebration of the ensemble, was in support of the jazz minor.
The minor requires 19 credit hours, distributed throughout various skills in improvisation, piano and in arranging for the Chamber Jazz Group. Like the ensemble, non-music majors are also welcome to declare the minor.
Jazz minor Ashley Drew is a third-year music education major with an instrumental concentration in flute. She chose to minor in jazz for a few reasons.
“I started playing in jazz bands when I was 13 and have ever since,” Drew said. “The jazz minor I believe will give me an advantage as well when it comes to getting a band director’s job because I will know more about working with a jazz ensemble. Plus, everyone knows that jazz players are hip to the groove and learning how to play with other cool cats is an amazing thing.”
Lidral said that minoring in jazz as well as being in the ensemble is a great way to develop jazz skills. Drew agreed, “For me, personally, I take everything I learn in the improv class and transfer it to the chamber jazz ensemble. I play tenor in the improv class and flute in the ensemble but I have an easier time switching the ideas over to flute. So it has helped me in all areas of my playing and concepts of theory.”
Both the ensemble and the new minor in jazz studies have promising futures. They each allow students to pursue jazz at an advanced level in an easygoing setting.
Bangor Daily News