arrange • compose • conduct
Posts about vocal jazz.
The tone used in vocal jazz is generally lighter. (I use “lighter” advisedly: the tone is not “breathy,” “thin,” or “unsupported.”) It’s one of the most misunderstood aspects of the style, and something that is constantly under scrutiny by vocalists and educators not conversant in the style. Why is vocal […]
Clare Fischer grew up close to where I live, in Grand Rapids Michigan, and came to be one of the most important voices in contemporary harmony and arranging. He died ten years ago today. You can remember him fondly for his work as arranger and pianist for The Hi-Lo’s (like […]
I’ve begun incorporating a solo project into my winter semester with Shades of Blue. It’s a good opportunity to explore beyond ensemble singing, and a new experience for most of my students, who don’t get other opportunities to sing jazz in an authentic solo way. Step 1 is for each […]
Today at the Jazz Education Network Conference they had their annual Vocal Jazz Reading Session. Unlike in typical choral reading sessions, the JEN session (and IAJE before it) features a lineup of about a dozen vocal jazz heavy hitters, who are able to give respectable performances of music that’s really […]
Enjoy this, the likely last recording of The Real Group to feature Anders Edenroth singing. Blidöpolska was written by him as a capstone piece to his tenure in the group. And it has a beautiful story to go with it. As he said in this interview (translated from Swedish) “A […]
One of the best ways to find new repertoire is one that didn’t exist not too long ago. I love to see the programs posted online by the colleagues I most respect. The repertoire they’re programming is, by definition, the repertoire I want to program, and while not everything they […]
I arrange vocal jazz because I love it. I sang in vocal jazz ensembles throughout school and listen to vocal groups all the time because I love it. I teach it because I believe in it. I believe that learning to sing the close harmony we encounter in vocal jazz […]
I’ve been revisiting some old works of mine recently, and simultaneously thinking about the current musical trend of harmonic maximalism.* I love the rich harmonies that are at the heart of harmonic maximalism, but my heart isn’t in exploring that path. As I’ve looked at older and more recent works, […]
Two recently resurfaced arguments that in my brain are long-settled. “You can’t sing straight-tone healthfully.” I can’t believe vocal educators are still saying that, when the evidence is clear that that is simply not the case. Any style of singing can be healthy. Any style of singing can be unhealthy. […]
A big part of singing close harmony is personal time spent learning your parts. “Sing it like it’s a solo” my teachers would say. But a big part, and one I didn’t hear as often as a student, is that you have to make friends with the dissonance. Dissonance can […]