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  • Essay / I attended the “UIC Jazz Ensemble” at 7 p.m. - 1567

    On February 17, I attended the “UIC Jazz Ensemble” at 7 p.m. The concert took place in the Illinois Room of the Student Center East. The concert director was Mr. Andy Baker and he is one of UIC's music professors. He is also one of the principal trombonists of the Chicago Jaz Ensemble and co-leader of the BakerzMillion sextet. He is also a premier stage and studio musician. The lights in the room were quite dim and the room was full of audience. I noticed that there were a total of nineteen musicians performing that evening and that a jazz singer accompanied the musicians throughout the concert. There were sixteen members playing wind instruments, including trumpet, trombone, saxophone, flute and French horn. Some of them were standing, others were sitting. Besides wind instruments, the concert also included guitar, drums and piano. They were played by Edwin Garcia, Aaron Gorden, James Wenzel and Will Gingrich respectively. After a short introduction, Andy Baker began the concert by performing the song “Sedentary Motion” composed by Tom Garling. The style of the song was set in a simple modern Samba vibe, the musical lines were soft and the chord vocals were merged to produce a gentle but complex conversation between the sections of the jazz ensemble. As the chords were free and unbridled, the tenor saxophone and trumpet solos were able to stand out and present their ideas. The drummer accompanied them throughout the song, which made the song more colorful. The tempo of “Sedentary Motion” was set at an easy medium tempo and the entire song lasted over nine minutes. Let's move on to the second song, it's called "Take the A train" composed by Billy Strayho..... . middle of paper ...... started the song, and the beating of the drum was frequent. After the introduction, the rest of the musicians joined them. The pianist also had a solo part with the drum companion. The pace of the song was moderately fast and the song ended with a climax. Overall, I enjoyed the concert and I think the musicians did a good job performing these pieces of music. It was my first time attending a jazz concert and I understood jazz music better after hearing their performance. Jazz is a musical genre that originated in African-American communities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Besides, I feel really honored to be able to enjoy the performance of the famous bassist Rufus Reid. He is one of the most passionate musicians I have ever seen and it was a pleasure to listen to his work from “Quiet Pride: The Elizabeth Catlett Project ».”.