Syllabus

Course Meeting Times

Lectures: 2 sessions / week, 1.5 hours / session
Plus required outside events

Course Overview

This course explores composing and arranging for large jazz ensembles from the 1920s to current postmodern approaches. A wide variety of styles and techniques will be considered as well as the interaction of improvisation with composition. Illustrative examples will be drawn from the repertories of Anthony Braxton, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Gil Evans, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Golson, Woody Herman, Thad Jones, Stan Kenton, Gerry Mulligan, Oliver Nelson, George Russell, Mary Lou Williams and others.

Skills to be developed will include listening, score analysis, and original compositional work.

Three special features of this course are:

1. Observation and learning based upon attendance at open rehearsals and performances by our two resident large jazz ensembles, the MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble and the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra
2. Performance of Mid Term and Final Projects by these ensembles
3. Guest lecturers, including Dr. Fred Harris, director of the Festival Jazz Ensemble, experts on the blending of Afro-Cuban and Ethiopian music with jazz, and the Gil Evans / Miles Davis collaborations, as well as the internationally renowned composer Walter Thompson.

Mark Harvey bio page

Textbook

Boras, Tom. Jazz Composition and Arranging. New York, NY: Schirmer, 2004. ISBN: 9780534252618.

Requirements

1. Class attendance and participation (please bring music paper to each class)
2. Weekly listening, analysis, and composition assignments
3. Attendance at and reports on open rehearsals and performances by the MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble [FJE] and the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra [AJO] as scheduled throughout the term
4. A mid-term project to be performed by members of the AJO
5. A final project to be performed by the AJO or the FJE as concluding class sessions

Grading

Referring to the above listed requirements, grading will be based approximately on the following proportions:

• Assignments and participation (1 & 2) = 25%
• Rehearsal and performance reports (3) = 25%
• Midterm and final projects (4 & 5) = 50%

As with any course, individual effort and other factors will be factored into the determination of the final grade for the subject.

Schedule

Session Key:

• L = Lecture
• E = Required event outside of class: rehearsal, workshop or performance

FJE: MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble
AJO: Aardvark Jazz Orchestra

During the subsequent Spring 2009 term, Walter Thompson returned to MIT for a Soundpainting performance with the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra.  See the Video and Audio Classes page for a recording of this concert.