Write your paper using the same Jazz Concert Review Directions as you would have if you had attended a live
jazz performance. But instead of describing only the recorded venue, feel free to describe your experience
“watching” the selected video-recorded live jazz performance. Try to “join” the live audience as you watch, but
also feel free to describe your experience, wherever you are, watching remotely, because of these most
extraordinary global circumstances.
You have considerable liberty as to what you write about. Your paper, though, must address the following:
1) Your experience of attending the performance, which can serve as a “frame” for your review. The
performance venue, the people you see, the performance hall–describe these aspects of the experience that
take place before the concert itself. Convey to the reader distinctive characteristics of the performance venue
and the stage setting.
2) The performance–the performers, the instruments, the music–this is the heart of what you are writing about!
Select the piece or pieces that most impressed you. Describe the performance and your response to the
music. Highlight individual performers, if that was one of the impressive aspects of the concert. Describe as
3) Consider, too, whether you recognize any aspects of jazz or jazz style(s) in the music. Has our study thus far
allowed you to perceive aspects of the music that you might not have observed before studying? For example,
melody, harmony, rhythm, texture, timbre–blue notes, swing rhythms, syncopations, improvisation–are there
aspects of these musical elements that stand out for you that you can describe?
4) Finally, reflect on the value of attending a live performance of jazz at such a high level of artistry. Did you
enjoy the music? Has the experience changed you in any significant way? Offer a conclusion to your paper that
conveys your “take-away” from the experience.
One final suggestion: Write in your own “voice,” and be as expressive as you can.
Sample Solution
