We had a really great day on the 19th with 11 people making the day of music. Hawaii 5-0 was the large ensemble piece which went well and put a smile on everybody’s face. Breaking into the quartets, Nick was kind enough to stand in as a player and leader for one of the groups. They had Satin Doll to work on. One of the other groups played the Muppets. What was interesting for me with playing the muppets was that the younger members of the group didn’t know the tune. The adults got straight into it as they grew up with the show.
In the afternoon, Nick led the improvisation section. We had emailed every body with parts to Bag’s Groove by Lionel Hampton. He led them through the head, and then explained the blues scales and how they are useful for this piece. He then took them into the world of guide tones and got every one blowing through them whilst people took it in turns to improvise.
The group learned how to trade 4s and 8s and support for others while they improvised.
What should have been an hour just grew into a full afternoon session, with a large jam to finish the afternoon.
We are hoping that Nick will join us again for the next one, as the feedback from everyone was that they had learned a lot and that Nick explained things really easily.
Chris is feeling a lot better, so hopefully he will be back with us for Decembers event. Keep an eye out for details of our next event and hope to see you there.
regards
Dave
Dave Plummer Saxophonist 
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