We went to Symphony Space on the upper West Side of Manhattan to participate in the “Jazz for Young People’s Series,” how exciting to walk in and see the set up for Wynton Marsalis’s band!
The emcee as you can see in the above left was fantastic. He spoke to all of us in language and terms for all ages to understand, and he was very informative. He was a very smart man, he engaged all of the audience, which included a lot of kids. I wish some of my son’s elementary school teachers were as good as this man! Today’s series was about Duke Ellington and we learned a lot about the man, and the legend! A great musician who took chances and changed Jazz forever!
We saw how sound was changed by experimentation, and in fact a plunger was used to change the sound coming out of the trumpet. Duke Ellington surrounded himself by the best, because he knew that was how he could produce the best music, and he took chances which we all benefit by today by having his beautiful Jazz creations to listen to.
To illustrate the actions of various instruments the emcee brought out three band members and we learned:
The trombone is the lowest pitched instrument of the below trio,
The clarinet has the highest pitch,
And the trumpet is in the middle.
So of course we enjoyed the way these guys played off of each other to illustrate their instruments different pitches!
And then sadly the gentlemen took a bow and it was time to go until the next presentation at Symphony Space!
For more information please visit the Symphony Space website. We all three had a great hour of enjoyment, my guitar playing, glee club member 12 year old son, my saxophone playing husband, and me, the tone deaf ringleader!
Disclosure: We received tickets to attend this event. All opinions are always 100% honest and our own.
One of the highlights of my two sons’ jazz band career was the workshops with Wynton Marsalis. In fact, it touched them so deeply that they have both gone to Lincoln Center to watch several of his performances. I love that he caters to young people!!