In this story, Freddie the Frog and his best friend Eli the Elephant see a plane land on the other side of the Crocodile River. While exploring the plane that his friend was too big to board, Freddie the Frog accidentally flies away to a gig with five cool cats. The Flying Jazz Kitten helps him hold his own as she teaches him how to scat, though. Eventually he realizes that she disappeared during his performance, and he did just fine without her!
The students got to practice their own scat singing (musically making up their own nonsense syllables and sounding like instruments), and they got to hear other examples of scatting.
Here's a famous example of nonsense words, brought to you by The Muppets:
This year at Lannoye, we organized our Special Loved Ones Day (formerly known as Grandparents Day) differently. Students got to spend time with their special loved ones at different stations throughout the school. They got to read, make crafts, go on a scavenger hunt, learn more about each other through interviews, and enjoy some time together. The day ended with an in-house performance by the Red Raider Jazz Combo from Pulaski High School. (Happy Jazz Appreciation Month!) Lannoye students and their families were able to get together and listen to some great music! Many thanks to Ms. Kayla Koch and the high school students and parents that were able to make this performance happen!
PHS Red Raider Combo performs at Lannoye's Special Loved Ones Day
April is Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM)! To end the month on a high note, April 30 is International Jazz Day!
To celebrate this, we talked about some jazz stuff this week in K-5 music. We also sang and danced along, of course!
For some more background information on jazz, you can check out the Smithsonian and Scholastic.
One of the videos we watched in class is a classic; as a jazz saxophonist, I can't even tell you how many times I've played it. It's called "In the Mood," and the song hit the charts when Glenn Miller recorded it. Glenn Miller was a trombonist, composer, and leader of his own big band (jazz band - usually comprised, or made up, of 5 saxophones (who may double on other woodwind instruments, often flute and clarinet), 4 trombones, 4 trumpets, and a variety of instruments in the rhythm section, including but not limited to piano, drum set, guitar, bass (string bass or electric bass), vibraphone, and auxiliary percussion instruments like the cabasa, congas, shaker, etc.). He was born in 1904 and was declared missing when his plane disappeared while bringing him to entertain soldiers in France in 1944 (during World War II). He's also famous for writing such jazz hits as "String of Pearls," "Chattanooga Choo-Choo," "Pennsylvania 6-5000," "Tuxedo Junction," and "Little Brown Jug."
Another song we listened to was "Take Five," written by Paul Desmond and originally performed by the Dave Brubeck Quartet in 1959. (Paul Deasmond was the alto saxophonist in the Dave Brubeck Quartet - Dave Brubeck was the pianist.) This chart is interesting because it's in 5/4 time, meaning there are 5 beats in each measure, and the quarter note gets the beat. Listen closely - can you feel the uneven sense of time? It definitely sounds different than the 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4 that most of our music is!
A popular song this week in the music classroom is next. "Minnie the Moocher," performed by Cab Calloway and His Orchestra. This song has two call and response sections, in which Cab Calloway sings something and the audience sings it back to him. This was a hit in the music room, and it ties in with our learning targets and with a call and response song we're singing for the spring concert! Here's the neat thing Cab Calloway does during those sections: he scats. Scatting is a vocal jazz improvisation technique in which singers make up syllables or sounds, singing them with a made-up rhythm. In this song, Cab Calloway makes it harder each time - can you keep up? (Check out his sweet dance moves, too - fancy dancing in a tuxedo!)
Ella Fitzgerald was another famous jazz singer, known for her scatting skills. Here she is singing a ballad (slow song) called "Summertime," by George Gershwin.
Another classic! This one is "April in Paris," performed by Count Basie and His Orchestra. Listen to the timbre (tone color, tone quality) of the saxophones in his big band. (Count Basie didn't play sax - he's on the piano.)
Fred Sturm was a very recent jazz composer who passed away last year. He lived in De Pere and taught at Lawrence Conservatory in Appleton. He was a super nice guy! Here's a video with 24 excerpts of jazz charts he wrote. You can poke around within it to hear his funky grooves.
