Concert Report
Due May 1, 2022 (submit earlier if you would like my comments and suggestions so you can make changes or corrections)
(freely adapted from D. Kern Holoman: http://ross.ucdavis.edu/Handy/Syllabus/crpts.htm)
This course asks you to prepare for and attend a *live performance during the semester. A typical concert report is a two or three page (600-900 word) essay on the works performed, placing them and their composers in the proper historical context and treating their style and structure. The concert reports are not intended to be “reviews” of the performance: you should be primarily interested in the compositions and their performance. You are, of course, welcome to comment on the performers’ modes of dress or performance techniques, especially improvisation, or anything else of interest that happens during the concert. That’s why you are attending a “live” concert.
The purpose of the concert reports is to help you put the principles of listening that you are developing in class into action in true-to-life surroundings. It is advisable to choose concerts where the program relates to composers and styles you have studied.
(This could be a report on a jazz-related set at JazzFest. NOTE: The does not have to be expensive: student ticket prices are available.) Tulane, Loyola, and UNO all offer jazz performances. There are numerous venues that present jazz on a regular basis. WWOZ 90.7 FM broadcasts a calendar at the top of each odd hour (and puts it online at WWOZ.org) You will be also be able to choose a free, streaming online concert for your report. This link is updated regularly with new and upcoming jazz performances: https://www.jazz.org/blog/coronavirus-jazz-livestreams/
(Links to an external site.)
Don’t report on a concert in which you yourself participate. Jazz performances are usually intended to entertain (not to educate) so your performance may end up having a signifiant rock, R&B, or other style. If so, view this as an opportunity to comment on how the music, performance and performers fit into or relate to the jazz traditions we have been studying. Can you identify 32-bar AABA, or 12-bar Blues pieces? Does the music swing (can you describe the rhythmic groove?) Is there a significant role for improvisation? How can you tell?
You should be prepared to take notes at the concerts. The use of recording devices at public concerts is strictly forbidden (because it is both offensive and illegal). The paper should center on your perceptions of musical style and structure. Try to explain the concert and its repertoire in a manner that might be instructive to a less educated classmate. Aim, in particular, for:
a proper organization, with coherence and good structure;
a logical development, with well-reasoned lines of thought;
proper paragraphs, with good transitions;
elegant, artful sentences, varied, and pleasant to read–conversational, if you will.
correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar.
Master, if you have not already, The Elements of Style, a famous little pamphlet by William Strunk, Jr., and E. B. White (available online at http://www.bartleby.com/141/
(Links to an external site.)
) You may want to consult The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz (all of these are available in Delgado’s Moss Memorial Library – in person or online – the reference librarians will be happy to assist you in finding these resources in person or online). Please consult the Delgado Writing and Research Handbook http://www.dcc.edu/academics/communication/english.aspx
(Links to an external site.)
and consider getting assistance from the Delgado Writing Center. They, too, are offering online assistance.
Edit your remarks. Polish your prose. Cite your sources. Run spellcheck and proofread!
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