Composing for Jazz Orchestra

Syllabus

Course Meeting Times

Lectures: 2 sessions / week, 1.5 hours / session
Plus required outside events

Course Overview

This course explores composing and arranging for large jazz ensembles from the 1920s to current postmodern approaches. A wide variety of styles and techniques will be considered as well as the interaction of improvisation with composition. Illustrative examples will be drawn from the repertories of Anthony Braxton, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Gil Evans, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Golson, Woody Herman, Thad Jones, Stan Kenton, Gerry Mulligan, Oliver Nelson, George Russell, Mary Lou Williams and others.

Skills to be developed will include listening, score analysis, and original compositional work.

Three special features of this course are:

1. Observation and learning based upon attendance at open rehearsals and performances by our two resident large jazz ensembles, the MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble and the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra
2. Performance of Mid Term and Final Projects by these ensembles
3. Guest lecturers, including Dr. Fred Harris, director of the Festival Jazz Ensemble, experts on the blending of Afro-Cuban and Ethiopian music with jazz, and the Gil Evans / Miles Davis collaborations, as well as the internationally renowned composer Walter Thompson.

Mark Harvey bio page

Textbook

Boras, Tom. Jazz Composition and Arranging. New York, NY: Schirmer, 2004. ISBN: 9780534252618.

Requirements

1. Class attendance and participation (please bring music paper to each class)
2. Weekly listening, analysis, and composition assignments
3. Attendance at and reports on open rehearsals and performances by the MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble [FJE] and the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra [AJO] as scheduled throughout the term
4. A mid-term project to be performed by members of the AJO
5. A final project to be performed by the AJO or the FJE as concluding class sessions

Grading

Referring to the above listed requirements, grading will be based approximately on the following proportions:

• Assignments and participation (1 & 2) = 25%
• Rehearsal and performance reports (3) = 25%
• Midterm and final projects (4 & 5) = 50%

As with any course, individual effort and other factors will be factored into the determination of the final grade for the subject.

Schedule

Session Key:

• L = Lecture
• E = Required event outside of class: rehearsal, workshop or performance

FJE: MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble
AJO: Aardvark Jazz Orchestra

SES #	TOPICS
L1	Introduction
Tonal concepts and theory
L2	Overview of the jazz orchestra
L3	Melody and harmony Blues form
L4	Composing and arranging
E1	FJE open rehearsal
L5	Sectional form
L6	Harmony and voicing
L7	Saxophone writing Mid-term assignment
E2	AJO open rehearsal
L8	Review of concepts
E3	AJO concert at Regattabar
L9	Putting it all together: score and parts
E4	FJE open rehearsal
L10	Sketches: individual review sessions
E5	AJO performs mid-term projects
Expansions and innovations
L11	Preview of FJE concert, with analysis of some repetoire (Guest lecturer: Fred Harris, Musical Director of MIT FJE)
E6	FJE open rehearsal
L12	Thad Jones / Bob Brookmeyer / Oliver Nelson
E7	FJE concert at MIT Kresge Auditorium
L13	Ethiopian jazz and the Either/Orchestra (Guest lecturers: Mulatu Astatke and Russ Gershon)
L14	Charles Mingus
E8	AJO open rehearsal followed by concert
L15	Duke Ellington I
L16	Gil Evans / Miles Davis collaborations (Guest lecturer: Steve Lajoie)
L17	George Russell and modal jazz
L18	Afro-Cuban music and bebop (Guest lecturer: Bill Lowe)
Toward the final project
L19	Duke Ellington II
E9	FJE concert at Kresge Auditorium
L20	Postmodern approaches
L21	Soundpainting (Guest lecturer: Walter Thompson)
E10	Soundpaining workshop with FJE and Walter Thompson
L22	Sketches for final project
L23	Final sketches: individual review sessions
E11	FJE performs final projects
E12	FJE performs final projects (cont.)

During the subsequent Spring 2009 term, Walter Thompson returned to MIT for a Soundpainting performance with the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra.  See the Video and Audio Classes page for a recording of this concert.