Audition For All-State Jazz Choir
Who should audition for an All-State Jazz Choir?
Vocal Jazz
Posts about vocal jazz.
Vocal Group Styles
Learn a little more about the history and approaches of various vocal groups in these handy little videos.
Intros And Endings
How do you learn the right way to start and end tunes in the jazz tradition?
How The Audience Figures In
For a performer, what’s the difference between a vocal jazz performance and a traditional choral one?
Säje: The Album
Säje is one of the best things happening in vocal music today.
“Keep The Classical”
Overheard recently: a traditional bel canto voice teacher offering critique to a crossover student singing a jazz standard.
Not The Special Part
Having a group of singers who can sing well together isn’t the special part. Thousands upon thousands of singers have learned to master vocal jazz and choral music over the decades, singing tight harmony in tune. As hard as it is, it’s not that special. What is special is finding […]
Who To Listen To Part 2
It matters who you choose to listen to. As I wrote yesterday, when my students are learning a jazz standard, I work hard to impress on them the importance of targeted listening. This is, after all, an oral tradition, and we can only sing these songs well if we understand […]
Who To Listen To When You’re Learning A Song
It matters who you choose to listen to. When my students are learning a jazz standard, I work hard to impress on them the importance of targeted listening. This is, after all, an oral tradition, and we can only sing these songs well if we understand that tradition. Even as […]
Best of Tin Pan Alley
I’ve spent a lot of hours listening to the great Tin Pan Alley songwriters – the ones who composed the core of the Great American Songbook/jazz standards. Along the way, I’ve developed some strong opinions about the songwriters’ output. Here’s my ranking of TPA songwriters. (Who did I select to […]