Have You Ever Heard A Worse Jazz Orchestra Than This?

[Doghouse Riley]

This is the Booker T (no not that one) Washington High School Band.


Yes I know they are kids, but they are collectively terrible.

It had me laughing when they got to "One More Time!"



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn4drUqN-f0f0


Then there's the "Catalonian kids" from a music college in Southern Spain.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fjo75CFJjG4

 

[HollowState]

I like the Catalonian Kids. I thought they were a fractional second behind the beat at first, but very good. The youtube link below is of Japanese girls that most learned to play their instruments in less then six months of training for a 2004 movie called "Swing Girls". Sing Sing Sing near the end is the best.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGd1DxnVO6o

(why is the link not working directly?)

 

[Doghouse Riley]

I like the Catalonian Kids. I thought they were a fractional second behind the beat at first, but very good. The youtube link below is of Japanese girls that most learned to play their instruments in less then six months of training for a 2004 movie called "Swing Girls". Sing Sing Sing near the end is the best.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGd1DxnVO6o

(why is the link not working directly?)

Thanks for the link. They weren't too bad at all.

Sometimes you have to cut and past it a few times before you can get a "click on link" posted.

There's a lot of able young Japanese female instrumentalists.



I'm always impressed by young people who will do the work before playing in public.

This young girl had the right idea. I wonder how many hours she practiced in her bedroom, before she posted so many videos on YouTube?

Marta Altesa

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_Xy_pD_Or8

 

[Dude111]

Yes I know they are kids, but they are collectively terrible.

Heh they do BETTER than I could probably do

 

[knifeinthesink]

Know what the difference between playing in your bedroom and on a stage is? An audience.

That implies an offering of something that has taken years to develop for the benefit of those who have gathered to listen. One allows them self to be stripped bare vulnerable when they get up on that stage. There is no running away or making excuses.

So in exchange, there is an unspoken agreement to show gratitude and decorum when one has the PRIVILEGE of hearing live music.

When you trash a live performance you implicit trash all musicians and all performances because you fail to respect the vulnerability that is, in part, for your benefit.

Not trying to start a fight but how about if we give the performers a little credit.

 

[knifeinthesink]

Oh, and by the way, these are CHILDREN! They are play JAZZ! REAL jazz! Pretty amazing really. If that was my kid I'd be off the ground with pride.

 

[Doghouse Riley]

Know what the difference between playing in your bedroom and on a stage is? An audience.

That implies an offering of something that has taken years to develop for the benefit of those who have gathered to listen. One allows them self to be stripped bare vulnerable when they get up on that stage. There is no running away or making excuses.

So in exchange, there is an unspoken agreement to show gratitude and decorum when one has the PRIVILEGE of hearing live music.

When you trash a live performance you implicit trash all musicians and all performances because you fail to respect the vulnerability that is, in part, for your benefit.

Not trying to start a fight but how about if we give the performers a little credit.

Sorry, but you don't really get it do you?

Obviously, there's some money available there, as you can't fault the presentation.
They're nowhere near ready for a public performance. If you think they are, then you and I have different standards of what is presentable.

If it's a performance for friends and family, fair enough.

But it was out on YouTube "for the world to see." For cryin' out loud.
It wasn't good enough for that.

Now this is. Nine year-old jazz trumpet player.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFCg2KtIAyY&nohtml5=False

They need to do what Pete Townsend said he did. Practiced out of site in his bedroom until he could really play.

Oh, and by the way, these are CHILDREN! They are play JAZZ! REAL jazz! Pretty amazing really. If that was my kid I'd be off the ground with pride.

There you go, I'd be embarrassed for them if they weren't embarrassed themselves.

Mind you "failure" these days is now described as "deferred success."
We're in the "it'll do, era."

 

[knifeinthesink]

I believe adults should help kids develop and grow. I dont stomp on them. Nothing to do with my standards.

 

[benb]

...
If it's a performance for friends and family, fair enough.

But it was out on YouTube "for the world to see." For cryin' out loud.
It wasn't good enough for that.

Actually, Youtube very likely IS the way they play for friends and family who couldn't be there, live outside of the area, etc. You (specifically, the OP of this thread) might argue they should have put a password on the video or set it to "private" or however that works, but that might be too confusing for grandma to be able to view it.

Certainly that bassist is talented, but that (nor any other reason I can think of) doesn't mean the kids's performance shouldn't be available to the public. People DO gravitate toward what they find more entertaining, and this is reflected in the number of views of each video: 137 for the jazz kids vs. 6,304,425 for the bassist. The bassist will never notice any extra views from this thread, but whoever put the kids video up might wonder why there's a jump in views this month. And yes, I enjoyed both videos.

Youtube is like the Public Access TV channel of Cable TV (as famously used in the "Wayne's World" skit on Saturday Night Live), except there are millions of channels to choose among. You can change the channel any time you want.

I'd mention Portsmouth Sinfonia, but ... woops.

 

[ChuckORWC]

Agree with kife.

This was an assessment performance. Some school bands perform in music festivals once or twice a year in which their performance is observed and critiqued by local music professionals - often college-level music educators - to get instant feedback from fresh ears, that they wouldn't normally get from their own music instructors. The level of feedback is tailored to the skill level of the players; these kids probably got basic instructions on keeping tempo and playing the right notes, other kids might get pointers on the more subtle aspects of musical performance. The point is, these kids are learning, and this performance is just a step in the learning process. They may not be as advanced as other kids. They may be from a cash-strapped school with few resources for musical education. They may have a bad music teacher. They may have families that think they're wasting time playing music. They may be playing beat up instruments on loan to them from the school.

They don't deserve ridicule from random internet strangers. And they don't deserve comparison to kids from a well-funded, world-class MUSIC school.

 

[Doghouse Riley]

Agree with kife.

This was an assessment performance. Some school bands perform in music festivals once or twice a year in which their performance is observed and critiqued by local music professionals - often college-level music educators - to get instant feedback from fresh ears, that they wouldn't normally get from their own music instructors. The level of feedback is tailored to the skill level of the players; these kids probably got basic instructions on keeping tempo and playing the right notes, other kids might get pointers on the more subtle aspects of musical performance. The point is, these kids are learning, and this performance is just a step in the learning process. They may not be as advanced as other kids. They may be from a cash-strapped school with few resources for musical education. They may have a bad music teacher. They may have families that think they're wasting time playing music. They may be playing beat up instruments on loan to them from the school.

They don't deserve ridicule from random internet strangers. And they don't deserve comparison to kids from a well-funded, world-class MUSIC school.

Sorry!

All the excuses in the world don't make up for what was a pretty embarrassing performance.
The most critical will probably be other kids of their own age.
Perhaps they have lower standards in the USA?

 

[benb]

I suppose it could be discussed how people may well have different standards and priorities (ahem, tiger *cough* mom), but it might be pushing the envelope of forum rules.

 

[famousmockingbird]

Perhaps they have lower standards in the USA?

Yes it's pretty bad over here. Everything is meh at best.

 

[Doghouse Riley]

Yes it's pretty bad over here. Everything is meh at best.

Compare the presentation of the kids in the USA to those of the Catalonian college.
The Spanish kids "band uniform," is a cheap school tee-shirt and their own jeans.

We've a saying over here.
"All the gear and no idea."

Performance should be less about how you look and more about how you play.

 

[famousmockingbird]

Even our version of football is retarded.

 

[limpet]

This is the Booker T (no not that one) Washington High School Band.


Yes I know they are kids, but they are collectively terrible.

It had me laughing when they got to "One More Time!"



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn4drUqN-f0f0


Then there's the "Catalonian kids" from a music college in Southern Spain.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fjo75CFJjG4

Loving the Spanish kids work. I didn`t expect that. Particularly enjoyed the conductor watching on and grinning like a proud dad as that tiny girl played that solo.
Ace

I agree the other lot weren`t so great but as a not so hot musician myself ( obviously why I rarely play in front of anyone ) I`m loathe to put someone down for having a go.
I couldn`t listen to them all the way through, although I suspect it wasn`t aimed at me.

 

[AstroZon]

Sounds typical of a high school jazz band. It's difficult to play jazz, especially on trumpet. I've sat through much worse.

 

[limpet]

Since my post above I`ve been going through the performances of that Spanish Jazz group and I have to say that I am immensely impressed.
I can`t stop playing it.
Thanks to whoever put that first link up.
I`m hooked

 

[Sprags]

Remember that movie with Scott Baio I think that was on a mission to lean how to play blues guitar like a 60 year old black blues musician? And though it's probably not from the movie that basic deal is is you can't learn how to play blues guitar if you're a 15 year old white kid from the suburbs.

I know it's not exactly the same but....

 

[Doghouse Riley]

Since my post above I`ve been going through the performances of that Spanish Jazz group and I have to say that I am immensely impressed.
I can`t stop playing it.
Thanks to whoever put that first link up.
I`m hooked

That would be me.

The point I was trying to make is that I've no problem with kids learning to play an instrument, you have to encourage them, but who was the numpty who decided to put it on YouTube for all the world to see how bad they were?
All they needed to do to keep it "private" was to give the video the camera file number.

As I said earlier, Pete Townsend famously once said, as a teenager he locked himself away in his bedroom until he could play. Those kids were nowhere near ready.

Andrea Motis now has joint billing with her mentor Joan Chamorro, the other "star" of the Sant Andreu band (they are both around twenty now), Eva Fernandez now has a band of her own.

Here's two versions of my favourite recording of hers.

Vocal only.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3YuFKIQO_E

With an Alto solo,( though she can play any saxophone you like).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cz3YqJrF-L4

Remember that movie with Scott Baio I think that was on a mission to lean how to play blues guitar like a 60 year old black blues musician? And though it's probably not from the movie that basic deal is is you can't learn how to play blues guitar if you're a 15 year old white kid from the suburbs.

I know it's not exactly the same but....

But those Catalonian kids prove that they can play jazz from an age much lower than fifteen, with the right tuition and the older ones can improvise well and sing in passable English!