May 17, 2014 In Uncategorized

Joe Lovano played my composition!

Screen Shot 2014-05-13 at 5.52.39 PMWith my private instructor Joanne Brackeen I’ve been working on phrasing this semester. And, how do instrumentalists and vocalists speak their melodies. In earlier blogs I’ve mentioned that I like to approach music as a language, and if you can phrase your melodies as if you where speaking them, they will sound natural.

Anyway, this week we worked on one of my compositions and she suggested me to ask some saxophone players to play my melody, and then to transcribe it. A day later, with this assignment in mind I ran into Joe Lovano, who was working with us in the Global Jazz classes. I told him about my assignment and he told me that we could meet the next day. Then he played my composition, my melodies, and he even improvised on it! He sounded amazing 🙂 …

Now I have to sit down and transcribe it, difficult but wow. This was one of the most amazing moments of the semester.

April 16, 2014 In Uncategorized

Cheryl Bentyne

Screen Shot 2014-05-14 at 10.57.58 PMIts so amazing that Berklee invites all these wonderful musicians to give workshops and masterclasses 🙂

Today it was Cheryl Bentyne, known for singing with the Manhattan Transfer, one of the best vocal groups in the world. When studying jazz choir conducting I studied a lot of their music. And, since I am also a big fan of Bobby McFerrin I really love their version of ‘Another night in Tunisia’.

Next to her career with the Manhattan Transfer she also performs as a soloist and played with musicians like Kenny Barron, David Newman, Don Alias and Lewis Nash.

A couple of statements that resonated with me:

* trust in simplicity

* study the meanings of the songs

* you must bring joy

* instant fame is not the way

http://www.cherylbentyne.net/