Jazz performance techniques and practices

Music Review

The Miami Big Sound Orchestra is an ensemble group that plays original arrangements by Miami composers. The music that the ensemble plays has a distinct sound that can be attributed to the cultural influences of Miami and the instruments that are used. It is difficult to describe the ensemble's specific style as they appear to embrace a variety of styles.

The Miami Big Sound Orchestra is clearly influenced by Latin sounds, which is evident through the style, rhythm, and composition of the music being played. The music the Miami Big Sound Orchestra plays sounds a lot like music that was played by major artists such as Tito Puente. The music relies heavily on brass and woodwind instruments. It was interesting to see how one of the songs highlighted the use of the flute. In the song, there was a prominent flute solo, however, the solo sounds a little out of place. The Miami Big Sound Orchestra is essentially a brass driven ensemble and the use of a woodwind instrument really stands out, especially as a solo. The flute is a little too high pitched and I think that a brass instrument, such as a trumpet or other horn, would have made a better substitution. The song is missing a strong brass instrument to carry it forward through the solo. Looking at the ensemble itself, one can see that there is an overabundance of brass instruments as compared to woodwinds. Maybe if there were more woodwinds interspersed within the ensemble, then the flute might not stand out so much. I also noticed that the flute was not used throughout the entire song, which is probably why it sounded so out of place during the solo. A more seamless integration of the flute into the rest of the song could possibly eliminate this issue.

Another thing that I noticed was that the musical arrangements sounded a little to repetitive. Also, I felt that the songs being played were too derivative of other songs that I have already heard. The compositions and arrangements are simple and are too laid back. I think that the music could be improved if there were more complex rhythmic patterns utilized.

The Miami Big Sound Orchestra also plays jazz music, which I found interesting not because of their versatility, but because the music that they play sounds to be two separate styles. It is interesting to see how the Miami Big Sound Orchestra integrates an electric guitar into the jazz ensemble, however, I think that the two styles are too disjointed. I think that the Miami Big Sound Orchestra should work to fuse the Latin jazz music that they play with the more bluesy jazz music that they also play. Or, I think that the Miami Big Sound Orchestra could use the guitar more in their more Latin influenced music. I think that by integrating the guitar more, the ensemble would be able to create a unique style that would help to differentiate them from other horn ensembles. I think it would interesting to see how featuring the guitar as a solo instrument would change the dynamic of the ensemble. I imagine that the ensemble could create a more distinctive sound with the guitar as a major solo instrument because of the different effects that can be created by a guitarist, even if they do not use any special effects pedals.