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YAZZ Band: Fun Sized Edition

YAZZ Band: Fun Sized Edition

Primary author: Gregory Yasinitsky

Primary college/unit: Arts and Sciences
Campus: Pullman

Abstract:

Greg Yasinitsky, WSU Regents Professor of Music, received a 2019-2020 CAS Arts and Humanities Fellowship to produce a recording project of big band jazz for his ensemble YAZZ Band, composed by and featuring saxophone performances by Yasinitsky. The music is scored for “little big band,” a big band with the reduced instrumentation of four saxophones, two trumpets, trombone, piano, bass and drums. At this writing, five pieces have been composed, arranged, recorded and mixed and are essentially ready to be released. The recordings were made in the WSU Recording Studio and feature some of the finest musicians in the country. Two or three additional pieces will be orchestrated, recorded and mixed and when completed, the entire project will be released internationally streaming sites, including Spotify and Apple Music, and download sites including iTunes and Amazon. Physical compact discs will also be made available. The sheet music for all of the pieces will be published by Walrus Music, a top firm specializing in jazz. Yasinitsky’s big band music is performed in over forty countries around the world. His previous big band CD: YAZZ Band, was featured for fourteen weeks on national radio play lists and received numerous positive reviews around the world. YAZZ Band was named one of the top Big Band CDs of the year by BeBop Spoken Here in the United Kingdom. Because this new project is for a smaller ensemble, Yasinitsky’s new recording is called YAZZ Band: Fun Sized Edition.

Pitch Organization of Quarter-Tone String Trio Using Frequency Ratios of 11/9 and 8/7

Pitch Organization of Quarter-Tone String Trio Using Frequency Ratios of 11/9 and 8/7

Primary author: Michael Williams
Faculty sponsor: Scott Blasco

Primary college/unit: Arts and Sciences
Campus: Pullman

Abstract:

Using just intonation, also called pure intonation, is the tuning of musical intervals as small whole number ratios (such as 3:2 or 4:3) of frequencies. The pitches of this piece are based on two different intervals, or frequency ratios, of 11/9 and 8/7. I create two separate series, one consisting of added ratios 11/9 (11/9, 11/9*11/9, 11/9*11/9*11/9, etc.) and another of added ratios of 8/7. The first organization of pitches is made from a series of 11/9 intervals divided into series of fifths, notated at the nearest quarter tone. An interval of a near-perfect fifth is created by adding two 11/9 intervals together. By adding two 8/7 ratios, the series of frequencies sounds somewhat uneven, and kind of disorienting. In order to combat this unevenness in the 8/7 series, I divide it into three different series based on the series of fifths compiled from the series of 11/9 series. The first series of 8/7 series frequencies matches closely with the beginning of the 11/9 frequency series. The second and third series are tempered by some 45 cents to make the 8/7 series more even between the frequencies. By combining the 11/9 series with the 8/7 series altogether, a microtonal quarter-tone scale is created. This scale is used for my string trio.

Giant Steps: Practical exercises and patterns for aspiring electric jazz bassists

Giant Steps: Practical exercises and patterns for aspiring electric jazz bassists

Primary author: Frederick Snider

Primary college/unit: Arts and Sciences
Campus: Pullman

Abstract:

Giant Steps is an iconic and difficult jazz composition by the great jazz saxophonist John Coltrane. It was released in 1960 on the album with the same name Giant Steps.

Giant Steps is a controversial composition for its difficult cyclic chord progression. Many jazz musicians find Giant Steps extremely difficult, using excuses as to why they do not perform it. Famous jazz musicians, to include the great jazz alto saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, refused to perform Giant Steps, claiming Coltrane’s version sounded like an exercise. The bottom-line is many jazz musicians do not know how to approach it.

There are books written on how to approach Giant Steps and are not bass-friendly. For that reason I have come up with a practical approach on how to study and perform it with ease on the electric bass.

I have formulated exercises and patterns that are broken down measure by measure and chord by chord. If studied correctly, students will achieve technical facility, sounding like Coltrane. The trick is not to push the process, putting the cart before the horse like many musicians do. Jimmy Heath stated, “Trane worked on Giant Steps for 4 years before recording it.”

Besides exercises and patterns, I have created a backing track with varying tempos—slow to very fast. With exercises, patterns and backing tracks, students have all they need to be successful.

I am planning on getting my project published by Jazzbooks.com—Aebersold Jazz.

Field Recordings of Nez Perce Native Singers, 2019-2020

Field Recordings of Nez Perce Native Singers, 2019-2020

Primary author: Melissa Parkhurst

Primary college/unit: WSU Center for Arts and Humanities; WSU School of Music; NW Public Broadcasting
Campus: Pullman

Abstract:

WSU’s Pullman campus is located on the traditional lands of the Nimiipuu, known also as the Nez Perce. Song has long permeated all aspects of life for the Nez Perce people, giving power, protection, and healing, and transmitting knowledge that solidifies community bonds.

Since the time of contact, the intense pressures of colonialism, missionization, land dispersal, boarding schools, and acculturation have changed and augmented the Nez Perce body of song. New religions (e.g., the Feather Religion and Washat / Seven Drum) emerged on the Plateau. Nez Perce musicians returned home from boarding schools to start jazz combos and swing bands such as The Nez Percians. More recently, Nez Perce youth have spearheaded community and campus powwows, drum groups, and dance competitions.

Since June 2019, our project team has recorded singers at Talmaks, Idaho; Lapwai, Idaho; and here in the recording studio at the WSU School of Music. In spring 2020, we will record culture bearers in Pendleton, Oregon. Singers choose which songs they wish to record, how their recordings will be used, and where the recordings will be archived.

Many of the singers are older and the bodies of songs they know constitute inestimable cultural treasures. The songs contain extensive history, teachings, and traditional knowledge. Young people can hear the voices of their grandparents and know that their culture is alive and thriving today within the Nez Perce Reservation and beyond.

Music from the Margins

Music from the Margins

Primary author: Chris Dickey

Primary college/unit: Arts and Sciences
Campus: Pullman

Abstract:

There is an alarming lack of diversity in today’s classical music programming. In the past two years, for example, one of the world’s leading orchestras—the Chicago Symphony Orchestra—announced an upcoming season’s program that lacked a single piece written by a woman. Dickey, a tuba player and member of the LGBTQ+ community, also notes a lack of diverse programming in his own field of tuba performance. He performed a recital tour to four Midwestern universities that showcasing a variety of music, some of which was composed by individuals holding marginalized identities (women, LGBTQ+ individuals, and people of color). Discussing inclusive, thoughtful programming with audiences of aspiring educators, composers, conductors, and performers was an effective way to change the conversation in classical music. Addressing music from underrepresented populations did not diminish the music written by those of a dominant identity; instead, this project helped people understand how rich the music truly is when one makes an effort to be more inclusive. The tour addressed a large-scale problem in classical music by understanding gender, gender identity/expression, race, sexual orientation, and culture through the lens of music performance. Music is a shared cultural experience, one capable of expressing a group’s values and traditions. Bringing these underrepresented composers into the conversation can stimulate more interest and understanding of what those groups represent in a global society. This project asserted Washington State University’s artistic presence nationally and its commitment to expanding individual opportunity and equity.

Charlie Parker’s Connection to Hip Hop

Charlie Parker’s Connection to Hip Hop

Primary author: Gabriel Condon

Primary college/unit: Arts and Sciences
Campus: Pullman

Abstract:

I presented my research entitled, “Charlie Parker’s Connection to Hip Hop,” at the 2020 Jazz Education Network Conference (JEN) in New Orleans. JEN is the premier jazz education conference in the world. My research uncovers the common ancestry that jazz and hip hop share as Black American musical genres.
My research provides an analysis of revolutionary bebop saxophonist, Charlie Parker’s rhythmic vocabulary. It shows the integral role syncopated rhythmic accents play in Parker’s composed and improvised melodies. The use of syncopation is an African tradition. These traditions were brought to America by slaves, who were in turn influenced by other ethnic groups present in New Orleans at the beginning of the 20th century.
A rhythmic analysis of hip hop music from the 1990’s and early 2000’s shows a similar use of accented syncopation. This similarity in rhythmic vocabulary inspired my further research into the possibility of combining the jazz and hip hop genres.
To explore this, I composed melodies in the style of Charlie Parker that used the rhythmic content from “Juicy,” a composition by acclaimed hip hop artist, The Notorious B.I.G.. When composing the melodies, I used Charlie Parker’s melodic techniques to authentically integrate the syncopated accents from the Notorious B.I.G.’s rapping into my compositions.
The effectiveness of the composed melody proves the rhythmic connection that jazz and hip hop share as Black American musical genres. It also demonstrates unexplored possibilities of collaboration between hip hop artists and jazz artists.

Feeling Black Into the Sky: A commissioned work for wind quintet and wind ensemble by Danial Bernard Roumain

Feeling Black Into the Sky: A commissioned work for wind quintet and wind ensemble by Danial Bernard Roumain

Primary author: Troy Bennefield

Primary college/unit: Arts and Sciences
Campus: Pullman

Abstract:

To produce an influential piece to the neglected repertoire of works for band and wind quintet, and to encourage the commissioning of more composers of color, this WSU Arts and Humanities Fellowship Project funded the composition of an 18-minute concerto for wind quintet and wind ensemble and accompanying residency by nationally-recognized composer Daniel Bernard Roumain, or DBR. After working together discuss the structure and scope of the work, DBR composed this piece with inspiration from the artwork of James Turrell. This inspiration in turn led him to compose the piece in five sections, each representing the struggle of being a Black Man in America in the 21st-century. The final piece was premiered April 18, 2019 by the WSU Symphonic Wind Ensemble featuring the faculty wind quintet, Solstice. Dr. Troy Bennefield was the conductor, and DBR spoke to the audience about the piece prior to its performance. DBR worked with the ensemble in rehearsals leading up to the concert, and he also presented clinics with music students on composition, entrepreneurship, and diversity issues in the arts. This poster presentation will include a narrative of the project steps, visuals from the musical score, images from works by James Turrell, and if resources are available, running video of the performance.