David Foster

"And All That Jazz"

On Monday, December 4, 2006, I attended a Jazz Ensemble Concert at NJCU, directed by Dr. Edward Joffe. The evening featured special guest Peter Erskine, solo drummer, accompanied by the NJCU Jazz Ensemble. Jazz, by far, is not as pleasant sounding as, for example, orchestral music. However, it does have its own dissonant, perhaps even atonal qualities.

The program began with The Brazilian Combo, directed by Prof. Paul Meyers, on guitar, Pablo Rodriguez on bass, Alex Canales on saxophone, Benjamin Guadalup on Latin percussion, and finally vocals by Hye Jin Ancho. The Brazilian Combo's second performance, the "Wave" featured the only vocal that evening. The melody was sweet sounding, until Hye Jin Ancho put a little spice to it by scatting. The notes fluctuated and modulated in certain areas, as if bounding on a trampoline. By the end of the piece, the notes were reaching high to the sky, building tremendous tension, causing me to have goose bumps.

Afterwards, The Lab Band, directed by Pete McGuinness, performed three pieces. The second piece by Gerry Mulligan, "Night Lights" sounded very dismal, especially when Zan Stewart, tenor saxophonist, played a solo. It sounded as if he was improvising, while the alto and baritone saxophones, along with two trumpets, a guitar, bass, and drums played the melody. That small portion sounded quite dissonant with a meter of four.

One composition that I bobbed my head to was "Plan 9." Peter Erskine used drums to crescendo and decrescendo in order to stir up emotions. Before the performance, he stated that the four beat meter derived from a bit of rap. The trumpet was also another solo instrument that used a lot of ascending and descending melodies. Following the trumpet, Sean Franz, a third tenor saxophonist, played in minor cords, building tremendous tension. I imagined a dark alley in New York