MARQUETTE, Mich. (WZMQ) – Friday, April 5th marked the 26th annual Northern Michigan University Jazz Festival. The event celebrated the genre that’s popularized a lot of today’s music, by teaching it. NMU hosted various High School music programs where students played through pieces and got instruction on their technique from leaders around the state.
“I think theory is the most important that you need to know,” commented Marquette Senior High School Bassist Nathan Long.
“Well when I listen to music specifically I look for a lot of emotion,” commented Marquette Senior Highschool Baritone Saxophonist.
Defining Jazz music can be a tricky task and since the Jazz Age in the 1920s, its characteristics have evolved, but one constant that musicians have leaned on is improvisation. Bassist Nathan Long has been playing bass for almost 7 years, and through his repertoire, he’s learned that the rhythm section is crucial to the success of playing jazz. “It’s all about taking the song to different places,” commented Long.
“Very often people tend to think of Jazz maybe as one or two things maybe they of dixie land jazz or big band jazz but there are so many different styles,” commented the Director of NMU’s Jazz Festival Mark Flaherty.
Students said playing Jazz music helps them to think outside the box. There may be set time signatures and set scales, and with Jazz a lot of that stretches into an entirely new way to craft the art.
“I think it’s insanely important to use your instrument and body language and all that in combination to communicate with other members,” continued Long.
“Literally the best students and we’ve got a great group and their really into it, it’s so much fun for me as a teacher to work with them,” commented Marquette Senior Highschool Director of Band Matt Ludwig. From the rhythm to the brass, the young musicians played through a variety of Jazz-style music that all feeds into a great majority of the music we listen to today.
“Its just a great genre to draw kids together and teach them teamwork,” continued Ludwig.
“You see all these students here today learning this music I think it’s important because there are all these styles sort of based on that,” continued Flaherty.
