I have often said that the best thing about Fall Semester is Winter Semester – especially for small groups and especially for vocal jazz ensembles. For those groups, the business of learning to sing together as an ensemble is a big part of the work of the fall semester.
But the state of higher education is that there’s no ability to force continuity between semesters, and there’s often mitigating factors that prevent even motivated students from continuing.
Imagine my joy, then, to have an octet remain intact from one semester to the next. I am planning and scheming in a different way than I usually do, because I know the ensemble: I know their interests, their strengths, their challenges, and their passions.
And because it so seldom happens, I’m doing my best to take joy every day in the mere existence of ensemble continuity.