The Jazz Eclipse Nov 18

We have a name! The Jazz Eclipse is now the official name of the new 6th Grade Jazz Band after a very close vote last Friday. I continue to hear riffs and melodies from Clifford Brown's Blues Walk and Herbie Hancock's Cantaloupe Island.

Things are ramping up for the end of the calendar year, and then get ready for some fine jazz in 2010! Happy Thanksgiving!

Mr D

Sharp9 Big Band Nov18

We're getting to the time of year where the pace quickens, and rehearsals for Sharp9 will be no exception. We're off the next two Fridays, but will resume on December 4, 11 and 18. We will look forward to fine-tuning what we've been working on since the beginning of the year and also put our sights out for the Martin Luther King Assembly (January 15th) and the Chocolate Cafe (January 31st from 2-4 pm).

Please check out the DSMS Instrumental Music website for some great YouTube videos of this year's Sharp9 repertoire as well as more performance dates (dsmsduprey.pbworks.com and click under Ensembles).

More in December. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Mr D

6th Grade Jazz Band Oct 23 & 30

Rich Labedz and the 6th Graders are in great deliberations on the naming of the group. I am sworn to secrecy, but the list is down to the final two. We're all hopeful for an unveiling by next week.

The 6th Grade Jazz Band has been really investigating the blues for the past 3 weeks. The blues is known as America's Music, because of it's Democratic "call and response," it's freedom to express yourself as well as it's unified and collective feel of "swing." The students now have their first piece - C-Jam Blues - and some fine soloists came up to the plate at yesterday's rehearsal. I get more and more pumped up to hear the premiere of this group!

Have a wonderful Halloween!

Mr. D

Sharp9 Big Band Oct 30

Happy Halloween! Try to check out Louis Armstrong's novelty tune Skeletons In My Closet for a jazzy Halloween treat!

We had another productive rehearsal yesterday. We tightened up our three original pieces and started to chip away at Chameleon at the end of the rehearsal. Summertime is sounding really nice, and the next stage of that piece is to have Deanna do some vocals and some improvisation solos for folks as well.

That's it for now, so have a great weekend!

Mr. D

6th Grade Jazz Band Debut Oct16

A complete success! While debriefing with Rich Labedz, I got more and more excited about all the great things that happened with the first ever DSMS 6th Grade Jazz Band. Rich started by getting names and instrumentation in order, then they went right into establishing the group's name. Rich tells me that the enthusiasm was high and after voting, he believes they have a name. He'll confirm that this one is it at next week's rehearsal, then he'll make it public. (You can bet t-shirts were discussed too!)

After the organizational part of the rehearsal, Rich handed out his Blues Worksheet and they started swingin'! He is very encouraged by the talent and energy. Once initiated in the blues, he taught them Duke Ellington's C-Jam Blues and they started cookin'! I can't wait to hear all about it from the 6th graders on Monday! You will definitely be hearing more from this group in the future.

Have a great weekend!

Mr. D

Sharp9 Big Band Oct16

Sharp9's first solo rehearsal was a big success! While Rich Labedz was getting the 6th grade jazz band started in the band room (see the 6th Grade Jazz Band Blog), I had the 7th, 8th & 9th graders in the MS Choral Room. We reviewed and began tightening our three charts that we had worked on with all grades, and then broke out two new charts. These are Chameleon, by Herbie Hancock and Shiny Stockings (one of my personal favorites) from the Count Basie Big Band library written by Frank Foster. We worked on setting up the groove with the rhythm section and bari sax for Chameleon, and then tightened up some rhythmic figures with the winds. Shiny Stockings will be our big challenge piece, as it is a pretty sophisticated arrangement and features the sax section in a big tutti section.

For our next rehearsal our folders will be full, and more tightening will be addressed, as well as some ear training that will tie in with some super improvisation work. I'm also hoping to announce our guest artist for this year's Jazz Spectrum Clinics and Concert next time.

Mr. D

DSMS JAZZ Oct 2

Well, we had our second full band rehearsal and started refining our 3 tunes (see last weeks blog). I don't know about any of the other members, but I find myself humming bits of The Creeper most out of these 3 charts!

Next week is off because of the long weekend, and then the bands split up into two full big bands on October 16th. I will take the Sharp9 Big Band in the MS Choral Room with all the 7th & 8th graders, and Rich Labedz (see last weeks blog) will take the 6th Graders in the band room. I am so excited by the growth of the DSMS jazz program. This is truly a landmark year that I've been dreaming of --- it's the start of a true jazz program in Dover-Sherborn. Both the Chocolate Cafe (January 31st from 2:00-4:00 in Lindquist Commons) and the Jazz Spectrum Clinics and Concerts (April 7th & 8th) will be blessed by the new 6th Grade Jazz Band (I'm looking forward to the unveiling of a name come October 16th!), along with all the other veteran groups that make these events such a festival of great music.

Enjoy the weekend!

Mr. D

DSMS JAZZ

We had a fabulous rehearsal with the 6th, 7th & 8th graders interested in jazz at DSMS. We started by having a visit from Rich Labedz (http://richlabedz.com/live/). Rich will be working with us this year as the 6th Grade Jazz Band leader. This year is a banner year at DSMS because we have the numbers to have two complete big bands! During Rich's visit we warmed up on a Bb Major Scale and quickly turned that into the Bb Blues Scale. Once that was done, Rich took to the piano and we started jamming on the Bb Blues! I started off the solos and then a 1/2 dozen seasoned Sharp9 Big Band members let 'er rip!

When Rich left I handed out three arrangements: The Creeper by Neil Hefti, Summertime by G. Gerswin and Take The A Train by Billy Strayhorn of Duke Ellington fame. The students did a super job of reading these charts and starting the process of making some music out of them. A very successful start to the 09-10 jazz year!

Our next rehearsal is this coming Friday, October 2nd from 2:30-4:00 in the Choral Room. This will be a full 6th, 7th & 8th grade rehearsal. October 9th is off because of the long weekend, and then October 16th will mark the first rehearsal for the first ever, 6th Grade Jazz Band ! (What WILL the name be?!)

Please check my website for schedules, notices and more about jazz at DSMS.

Have a great long weekend!

Mr. D