On Monday, June 20th, I attended a summer jazz workshop concert. Every night till Friday 24th there will be a concert to attend with Friday being an exception of having the concert in the afternoon. Monday’s concert was one of the first of the series I will be attending. The 360ᵒ Jazz Initiative performed Monday’s concert. This was a concert to also promote the release of their CD, which contains some tracks played from the concert.
The 360ᵒ Jazz Initiative group contained:
- Rachel Therrien playing the trumpet.
- Rahsaan Barber and Alex Upton playing the sax.
- Jerald Shynette playing the trombone.
- Stephen Anderson playing the piano.
- Baron Tymas playing the guitar.
- Juan Alamo playing percussion.
- Jason Foureman playing bass.
- Dan Davis playing the drums.
Entering the venue, you can see it is full of people eagerly waiting to watch the performers. From the beginning, you see the passion coming from every performer. The opening piece was very explosive, with sounds reaching throughout the venue. I have attended student concerts in the past, but never a concert with true professionals. There is a big difference in sound and the output that comes out of their instruments.
I was sitting towards the back end of the venue, but the sound reaching me was full and enough to shake my body. Even as a beginner in jazz music, I could tell that the group played like a well-oiled machine and that the experience and technique I witnessed would be something that I could not achieve in my lifetime.
Throughout the concert, I thoroughly enjoyed that Dr. Anderson gave some background to every piece they played. This gave the audience a greater sense of meaning why the piece sounded as it was supposed to be.
The concert consisted of pieces that were played, not all by one artist, but it consisted of different pieces from different artists in the group. The concert also had guest student appearances that consisted of pieces that they composed as well.
This made the concert very unique for me as I heard various styles of how jazz music could be represented and heard. This incredible experience makes me look forward to the next great concert in this series.