Whew… I have to apologize because it’s been quite a while since my last post… again. Due to the complications of moving, studying for the LSATs, and trying to find time to practice some saxophone, flute, and clarinet on the side, I’ve been unable to catch a second to update my blog. I’m happy to announce that this summer I’ll be interning at Jazz at Lincoln Center (gasp… can you say dream come true?). As you probably guessed from the not-so-subtle hint, this is a dream come true for me. I’ve been a huge fan of JALC since I first came into contact with them through Mr. Martin, one of my high school band directors. Through JALC we got the chance to compete in their annual high school jazz band competition Essentially Ellington. Sure we didn’t win, but that wasn’t important. We became immersed in the musical world of Duke. Since that experience I’ve continued to pursue jazz as one of my biggest passions. If I were to point to one single group and say ‘that is why jazz is still around and growing’, it would be Jazz at Lincoln Center (although I can list quite a few other groups who also deserve credit: the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, the integration of jazz studies programs at universities and colleges across the country, the countless other organizations designed to promote the awareness of Jazz, and even the increasing number of social media/music platforms that allow musicians to get their music out there in ways that just wouldn’t have ever been possible without it).
Whereas other musical genres have faded into obscurity jazz has actually seen a rise in both the number of musicians and fans. Check this out! Note: I’m not citing statistics from Pandora on here .
I’ve been a huge fan of the JALC Orchestra since I first heard them play back in high school. They played perfectly; every articulation, every crescendo, every glissando and fall was both impeccably timed and masterfully executed. They truly are wonderful players. I’ll post some links below of some of their stuff!
In addition to all of my I also wanted to include a transcription I did a while ago of Harold Land’s solo on Joy Spring. I keep saying that i’m going to upload some transcriptions and then it never happens… so here ya go!
The Rantings of a Mindless Jazz Enthusiast 