04/23/20 – The Jazz Adventurers is now an online class for the duration of the Spring 2020 Semester. Our final concert will feature some of the recording projects we’ve been working on since going online the week of March 23rd, 2020.
Let’s Fall In Love
Our first project involved my transcription of an arrangement on an Ella Fitzgerald recording of this tune. I chose this arrangement because we have a large class this semester and this version has “something for everyone to do”. The solos are very short – 8 bars at most – and there are a lot of great setups for the soloists by the horn section. I thought this would be good for a recording project because there’s very little downtime for folks to get lost.
Here’s the latest mix of our version: Jazz Adv’s “Let’s Fall In Love” 051120 Mix
Gonna Be Alright
This one was a request from Katie. The PMAC Faculty had played an arrangement of it by Eric Klaxton on a Jazz Nite concert and Katie loved the groove. Eric sent me his arrangement and I altered it very slightly for our instrumentation. We had worked on it briefly in class. To get folks soloing on it we opened up the vamp at the end. This is still a work in progress but here’s where we’re at right now: Jazz Adv’s “Gonna Be Alright” 051120 Mix
Straight No Chaser
This one is an arrangement I did for the class a few years back and we decided to dust it off and bring it back this semester. It’s basically a transcription of one of Monk’s recordings. I took the last 4 bars and used it as an intro for the horns, gave the first chorus of the melody to the piano and then had the vocal take a couple of choruses with the horns playing backgrounds on the second chorus of the vocal. Then, it’s off to the races for solos. Here’s the final mix from 051320