Standards Ensemble: directed by Reggie Workman

This class will be a measure to assure that students who may have entered the music community recently are exposed to some of the material that can be considered standard up to approximately 1965. We will examine songs made popular via theatre, Broadway, film, etc. We will concentrate on composers born in the later part of the 19th century. Students will be expected to memorize a substantial number of songs from that era in more than one key. We will concentrate on material which the average musician might encounter during the course of his/her career. One section of this course each semester is devoted to special emphasis on the subtleties of ballad playing. Attention in this section is given to the influence of the Jazz vocal tradition in shaping a personal instrumental approach to song.