Jazz Concert Review Assignment

the Jazz Concert Review assignment should be approximately 500 – 600 words. The assignment can be turned in as soon as you have completed it, and we recommend that you write your concert review shortly after having attended the performance.

***

Assignment Directions:

You have considerable liberty as to what you write about. Your paper, though, must address the following:

1) Your experience of attending the performance, which can serve as a “frame” for your review. The performance venue, the people you see, the stage—describe these aspects of the experience that take place before the concert itself. Convey to the reader distinctive characteristics of the performance venue and the stage setting, as well as any details of your own personal viewing space that you would like to share.

2) The performance—the performers, the instruments, the music—this is the heart of what you are writing about! Select the piece or pieces that most impressed you. Describe the performance and your response to the music. Highlight individual performers, if that was one of the impressive aspects of the concert. Describe as best you can what you hear and how it affects you.

3) Consider, too, whether you recognize any aspects of jazz or jazz style(s) in the music. Has our study thus far allowed you to perceive aspects of the music that you might not have observed before studying? For example, melody, harmony, rhythm, texture, timbre—blue notes, swing rhythms, syncopations, improvisation—are there aspects of these musical elements that stand out for you that you can describe?

4) Finally, reflect on the value of attending a live performance of jazz at such a high level of artistry. Did you enjoy the music? Has the experience changed you in any significant way? Offer a conclusion to your paper that conveys your “take-away” from the experience.

We have two new “virtual” jazz performance options, allowing you to complete the jazz concert review assignment remotely.
Write your paper using the Jazz Concert Review Assignment Directions. (See Jazz Concert Review Assignment Directions, also inside this Jazz Concert Review Assignment module.)
OPTION #1:
Here’s a link to a great hour-and-a-half performance by Delfeayo Marsalis and the Uptown Jazz Orchestra at the 2018 New Trier Jazz Festival:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAnPfNzArBY (Links to an external site.)
***
OPTION #2:
Here’s an embedded link to a one hour-plus live performance by Chick Corea:
Vigilette Trio, Jazz Night in America, Scullers Jazz Club, Boston MA, September 19, 2018.
Chick Corea, piano
Carlitos Del Puerto, bass
Marcus Gilmore, drums
Chick Corea: Vigilette | JAZZ NIGHT IN AMERICA

Last Completed Projects