what should a current school jazz band play?

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  • SHAFT IN AFRICA - maybe with a Darkest Light intro?

    PEP RALLY HEAT!

    yo!!!!! that is an idea!!!!


    but check it out, its not a big band at all. we are talking guitar, bass, keyboards, drums. maaaaaybe a horn here and there.

    no music program,no recess,no home ec(i fill in for that)
    the shit is a big steaming hot pile of

  • drewnicedrewnice 5,465 Posts
    Tone, have these kids been playing awhile before the band?

    Any sense for how nice the drummer is?

    I'd start them off with some basic funk, just get them playing grooves first and they might run with it from there.

    Introduce them to the Godfather of Soul.

  • BamboucheBambouche 1,484 Posts
    mAny recomendations?

    chameleon
    knucklehead
    scorpio



    I was in the Jazz Band in high school, and much the same predicament. Our jagoff instructor worshipped Huey Lewis, so I had to play the bassline for "It's Hip To Be Square" for months. Hated that shit.

    The entire rhythm section of our jazz band, minus me, also happened to be 3/4 of the local death metal outfit, MORBID DEATH. So, whenever our instructor walked away, we'd launch into "Angel of Death." It was the only way to have fun, really. The other thing we'd do is purposely during rehearsal, so by the end of the tune the band was playing at breakneck pace and fucking up all their lines. The instructor was always baffled when we'd say, "What? We were speeding up?"


    That said, I would have loved to play these songs:

    Dizzy - "Manteca" (the 13 minute Dizzy arrangement recorded in France)
    Alice Coltrane - "Stopover Bombay"
    Marion Brown - "Spooks"
    Ramsey Lewis - "The 'In' Crowd"
    Weldon - "Liberated Brother"
    AAC - "Theme De Yoto"
    Art Blakey - "Dat Dere"
    Dolphy - "G.W."
    Mingus - "Better Git Hit in Your Soul"
    Joe Henderson - "Blue Bossa"


    Mainly because the arrangement/writing is challenging and fun to play. Otherwise, any of that sample shit would be easy if kids are into it: "Root Down," "Slippin' into Darkness," "People Make the World Go Round," "Two Sisters of Mystery," "Tango Boo Gonk," etc.




    After months of rehearsing "It's Hip To Be Square," my high school jazz band went on to have a solo performance in the theater at our school. All the brass dorks sold tickets to their dork friends and family--"oh my god, we totally get to play in the nice auditorium and not the gym this year." Those of us hesher assholes in the rhythm section (we were only in the class cause it was a free hour to jam, truth be told, we had no interest in jazz) were less than enthused, cause we regularly gigged in watery basements and empty electrical warehouses for like 8 (sometimes 9) people. We had occasion to get paid in Keystone Light once in a while, so we knew what the fuck was what, wyoming?

    The morning of the performance, a Friday, our instructor told us we'd have to go home after school and put on 1) black trousers, 2) a white button-down collared shirt, and 3) a tie.

    A tie? A fucking tie to play Huey Lewis in front of dickshit's mom and them? "Naaw man, fuck that." The entire rhythm section--all four of us--revolted. We pulled a death metal no show.

    The next Monday we got to class and all the brass kids were ice grilling us. Man, fuck them... and we told 'em, "yo, you want a piece of me, trumpet boy?" Nobody stood up. That's right. We were those dudes from MORBID DEATH (and their tall friend with acne), so what could they do? The instructor was all glum, but he gave me my JAZZ BAND LAPEL PIN at the end of the year anyway. I still have it.

















    The moral of the story?

    IT'S HIP TO BE SQUARE[/b]

  • hahahaha. thats fucked up that you stood them up though. you should of just sped everything up or busted into MORBID DEATH montage.or gone in shirts,pants,tie,reeking of alcohol. or ripped your shirts off mid song and thrown the shirt at someones mom in the front row. or stood on a speaker and peeled off a ill solo. or all of you could have been hanging brains. or grabbed the mic and donesome "our band leader has a crush on huey lewis even though huey lewis is a herb" monologue.
    i played inspector gadget and the munsters at a school talent show after some corny song some friends wanted me to play power chords on. didnt take much talent, but people were feeling gadget like what

    mAny recomendations?

    chameleon
    knucklehead
    scorpio



    I was in the Jazz Band in high school, and much the same predicament. Our jagoff instructor worshipped Huey Lewis, so I had to play the bassline for "It's Hip To Be Square" for months. Hated that shit.

    The entire rhythm section of our jazz band, minus me, also happened to be 3/4 of the local death metal outfit, MORBID DEATH. So, whenever our instructor walked away, we'd launch into "Angel of Death." It was the only way to have fun, really. The other thing we'd do is purposely during rehearsal, so by the end of the tune the band was playing at breakneck pace and fucking up all their lines. The instructor was always baffled when we'd say, "What? We were speeding up?"


    That said, I would have loved to play these songs:

    Dizzy - "Manteca" (the 13 minute Dizzy arrangement recorded in France)
    Alice Coltrane - "Stopover Bombay"
    Marion Brown - "Spooks"
    Ramsey Lewis - "The 'In' Crowd"
    Weldon - "Liberated Brother"
    AAC - "Theme De Yoto"
    Art Blakey - "Dat Dere"
    Dolphy - "G.W."
    Mingus - "Better Git Hit in Your Soul"
    Joe Henderson - "Blue Bossa"


    Mainly because the arrangement/writing is challenging and fun to play. Otherwise, any of that sample shit would be easy if kids are into it: "Root Down," "Slippin' into Darkness," "People Make the World Go Round," "Two Sisters of Mystery," "Tango Boo Gonk," etc.




    After months of rehearsing "It's Hip To Be Square," my high school jazz band went on to have a solo performance in the theater at our school. All the brass dorks sold tickets to their dork friends and family--"oh my god, we totally get to play in the nice auditorium and not the gym this year." Those of us hesher assholes in the rhythm section (we were only in the class cause it was a free hour to jam, truth be told, we had no interest in jazz) were less than enthused, cause we regularly gigged in watery basements and empty electrical warehouses for like 8 (sometimes 9) people. We had occasion to get paid in Keystone Light once in a while, so we knew what the fuck was what, wyoming?

    The morning of the performance, a Friday, our instructor told us we'd have to go home after school and put on 1) black trousers, 2) a white button-down collared shirt, and 3) a tie.

    A tie? A fucking tie to play Huey Lewis in front of dickshit's mom and them? "Naaw man, fuck that." The entire rhythm section--all four of us--revolted. We pulled a death metal no show.

    The next Monday we got to class and all the brass kids were ice grilling us. Man, fuck them... and we told 'em, "yo, you want a piece of me, trumpet boy?" Nobody stood up. That's right. We were those dudes from MORBID DEATH (and their tall friend with acne), so what could they do? The instructor was all glum, but he gave me my JAZZ BAND LAPEL PIN at the end of the year anyway. I still have it.

















    The moral of the story?

    IT'S HIP TO BE SQUARE[/b]

  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    So you'd like them to learn some Jazz tunes or you want them to jazz up some lite funk/rock/pop?

  • spelunkspelunk 3,400 Posts
    So you'd like them to learn some Jazz tunes or you want them to jazz up some lite funk/rock/pop?

    Ummmm...call me crazy but I think a jazz band should learn jazz standards and the many styles of jazz that have progressed over the years. Play some Mingus, some Miles Davis, etc. Obviously it will sound nothing like the recordings because most good jazz artists will take a standard and morph it into an almost entirely different song. Oh and have the saxophones listen to the Redmans, father and son, and Branford Marsialis.

  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    So you'd like them to learn some Jazz tunes or you want them to jazz up some lite funk/rock/pop?

    Ummmm...call me crazy but I think a jazz band should learn jazz standards and the many styles of jazz that have progressed over the years. Play some Mingus, some Miles Davis, etc. Obviously it will sound nothing like the recordings because most good jazz artists will take a standard and morph it into an almost entirely different song. Oh and have the saxophones listen to the Redmans, father and son, and Branford Marsialis.

    I agree.

  • nzshadownzshadow 5,518 Posts
    Morbid Death rule.

  • johmbolayajohmbolaya 4,472 Posts
    Yes-Heart Of The Sunrise
    S.O.D.-March Of The S.O.D./Sgt. D & The S.O.D.
    King Crimson-21st Century Schizoid Man
    Eden's Crush-Get Over Yourself
    Earth Wind & Fire-Kalimba Song
    John Coltrane-Giant Steps
    The Mummies-Food, Sickles & Girls
    Desmond Dekker & The Aces-Poor Me Israelites
    Spice Girls-Spice Up Your Life
    Evanescence-Lithium

  • ReynaldoReynaldo 6,054 Posts
    Nothing funky or hip hop.

  • yuichiyuichi Urban sprawl 11,331 Posts
    my highschool formed a very lowkey jazz band. the science teacher is running it.the school, criminally, has no music teacher or music program. some of my young bols are in the band and i told them id lace them with some cds of heat before the teacher has them learning Hotel California.

    REally, whatever they play is cool with me. I dont want to meddle, but maybe open their ears to some classic shit. Any recomendations?

    chameleon
    knucklehead
    scorpio

    whats other shit they should definitely know/hear/get exposed to?

    How bout some Meters? Cissy Strut.

  • kalakala 3,361 Posts
    tall friend with acne+






    morbid death







    =























    a big band version of reign in blood/why must i cry
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