Our kind of music (OKOM) is a band team effort based on the jazz sounds of early musicians from New Orleans, and Chicago. We are also influenced by the Great British revivalist jazz musicians of the 1940’s to 1950’s when we took up the inspiration to contribute to the Great British Jazz Scene.
Each musician/instrument has an integral part to play for our kind of music. The object being to create an ensemble sound of beauty and co-ordination with no dominant instrument sounds and as such each player has their own way to contribute to the balanced ensemble.
RHYTHM SECTION:
Double Bass/Tuba provides the beat note upon which the rhythm sound works its way into and along with a tune.
Guitar/Banjo provides the chord sequence base upon which the tune is played.
Drums provide tempo control and the opportunity by using the whole drum kit to add the musical equivilant of exclamation marks, question marks, commas, full stops and also apply a driving force where necessary.
Piano provides an improvised link between rhythm section and front line based on the chord sequences played by the guitar/banjo.
FRONT LINE:
Trombone provides a link between front line and the rhythm section with the use of sliding glissandos and punchy phrases .
Trumpet provides a lead with the melody line of the particular tune being played with authority however after the initial chorus with a slight deviation from the tune the trumpet still establishes the lead keeping the band and the listeners aware of which tune the band is playing.
Clarinet/saxophone provides a counter melody to that of the trumpet by playing in the spaces left or in harmony generally playing a third (three notes) above the lead.
SOLOS WITHIN A TUNE:
Each instrumentalist may play a solo within most tunes giving the opportunity to create an improvisation based on the melody line of the tune. The quality of the musicians improvisation and invention during a solo results in the applause and appreciation by the audience. Please don’t expect any repeat of an improvised solo because once it has been played it has gone forever.
INDIVIDUAL SOLO PERFORMANCES:
To add to the variety of our concert programmes individual solo pieces will be included in an evening’s performance. Anything from an individual solo to a duet, trio or quartet may be included. This gives band members the opportunity to bring a tune to the audience which has appealed to him with the idea of it being something exciting, cool, musical or funny.
GROUPS WITHIN THE BAND:
It is possible to create reduced groups from within the band because smaller venues are unable to take the full seven pieces and we can reduce the band to a quintet, quartet or even trio called Mart’s ManJazz5, Mart’s ManJazz4 or Mart’s ManJazz3. The musician make up of these smaller groups are a variety of combinations entirely at the choice of the venue and the music is still in the same vein as the full band. A quartet number is sometimes included in a full band concert programme.
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