School Outreach

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT...

Our Ensemble members are not only compelling performers,
but also highly experienced teachers in both private and
classroom settings. We will guide your students
through an unprecedented range of approaches
for re-inventing jazz standards and gems of
American popular music.
(The Music Director has been teaching since 1974.)

For K-9 presentations we have found that
performing four pieces works best.
We then provide a walkthrough of
the evolution of our arrangement by presenting first
the original recording, and then our transformed version.
Lastly, we field questions from the students,
drawing from each of our performers' rich backgrounds.

For our music-specific high school and college presentations,
we offer a more detailed overview of
different approaches to arranging,
and how those can lead to new vehicles for improvisation.
Our mission is to inspire these students
to create their own arrangements
of not only what we present,
but of their own generation's popular music.

Paula Bradman - vocalist

Michael Smolens - pianist and arranger

Fred Randolph - acoustic and electric bassist

Russ Gold - drummer

ARRANGEMENT EXCERPTS

1) "Satisfaction" (jazz waltz/double-time swing/funk) 2:32
(K. Richards/M. Jagger)
2) "It Might As Well Be Spring" (up-tempo swing) 1:43
(R. Rodgers/Hammerstein)
3) "Witchcraft" (funk ballad) 2:37
(C. Leigh/C. Coleman)
4) "Moon River" (bossa-nova) 1:45
(H. Mancini, arr. by J. Eskridge and M. Smolens)
5) "Blue Skies" (funk ballad) 1:27
(K. Goss/B. Murphy/S. Vaughn)
6) "Angel Eyes" ('Coltrane swing') 3:14
(M. Dennis, E. Brent)
7) "Authenticity" (ballad) 2:50
(W. Hunter)

HISTORY OF
LECTURE / DEMONSTRATIONS

(forthcoming)

LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION

"Paula was fabulous and the quartet was terrific.  
A real treat!" 

—Shirley Sisk (Executive Director of L.O.V.
[League Of Volunteers]
     following the group's April 11, 2010 performance)

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