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Cauleen Hansen
Tess Boone
Art 1090-002
March 3rd, 2014
Powerful Jazz Performance Rocks My World
On February 28th, 2014, at 7:30 pm, Jazz and Studio Ensembles assembled in the
Multipurpose room of South City Campus in Salt Lake City, as part of a concert production for
Salt Lake Community College. The title of the concert was It Is All About Power. While the
concert was a good one overall, two bands really stood out to me: Soul Vaccination and 100
Square Feet. They performed the two songs that will be analyzed in this paper: At Last, by Etta
James, performed by Soul Vaccination and The Way by Fastball, performed by 100 Square
Feet (Department of Performing Arts).
Soul Vaccinations At Last begins with a slow tempo in the form of a piano solo,
which has a deep, rich sound. Then, the plaintive, slow cry of At last fills the room as
the singer begins belting out the song. Her voice sounded like an alto, and was very
soulful. It was also rich and textured. This made for a good match to the instruments that
were playing.
There are drums that can be heard as well, and these are also a slow tempo.
However, while sometimes drums can almost drown out a singers voice, the drums here
were more muted. The piano also seemed to have a more muted tone to it so the
singers voice could really stand out. The timing of the song is slow for most of the song,
but the instruments pick up pace as the singers voice does too, then it slows back down
towards the end as a saxophone plays sadly.
The energy of the song ebbs and flows like a wave of water, as the song
continues. Sometimes the energy feels very low and measured, while at other times the
energy picks up a little. While the theme of the song itself denotes a happy moment (a
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woman has her man at last) it appears to have a sad feel to it, as it is sung almost as
though the woman is on the verge of tears. The timbre was mixed, as soaring lyrics
combined with languorous piano, drums, and a saxophone accompanied the piece.
The entire song made me feel like I was in a Jazz club in the 1920s, sipping on
gin and moving back and forth in my chair as slowly as the tempo of the song was, as
smoke fills the air. Even the singer was moving at a slow pace as she sang. The rhythm
and melody were easy to follow along with, as the melody had a natural flow to it. The
song actually seemed to come full circle, as the singer finished with the two words that
began the song: At Last.
The texture of the song calls to mind smooth whiskey flowing down ones throat
as the song continues. I say that because the vast majority of the song kept an even
tempo and was smooth. As for color, I realize music doesnt have color in the literal
sense, but I get a warm, peaceful, and blue color to this sound. Blue comes to mind
because of the sad feeling I get, the song is a blues song, and I see the color blue when
thinking of this song.
The next song I want to discuss is The Way by Fastball that was performed by
100 Square Feet. The song started out with a short acoustic guitar solo-there was a one
second pause-and then the singer began to sing the lyrics. The rhythm is upbeat and the
melody stays fairly consistent throughout the song. The theme of the song is about a
couple who leave their home and set off with no particular destination in mind.
The movement of the song was a strong, steady beat that came from the drums
and the guitar. The timbre was a low pitch for the instruments, while the vocalist had a
higher pitch to his voice, which contrasted, yet also complemented, the instruments
being played. The rhythm flowed and was most noticeable in the sound of the
drumsticks hitting the drums. There was, however, two separate times when the band
lost the beat of the music and/or forgot the lyrics, which made it a bit jarring as the
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rhythm became syncopated, which interrupted the flow of the music.
The energy was forceful and high, as the voice, drums, and guitar were all done
loudly. The texture of the song felt hard and aggressive, but when the band made a
mistake, the texture became very rough and choppy. When the song was flowing
smoothly, the tempo made sense, as it was allegro. The space between the sounds also
worked well when everyone was in tune with each other.
If the song were to have a color associated with it, I would pick yellow. The
tempo was upbeat, and happy, even if the lyrics were a little sad.The lyrics also mention
the color tones of yellow, as they describe a gold road and a sun in the sky. I would also
say the song had a line to it, as the lyrics talk about people deciding on a course to take,
that is, to leave their home and set out for new adventures.
The song gave me an overall feeling of happiness, as the song talks about the
couple never getting sick or dying. It is something that I think speaks to everyone as a
whole, as most people want to be young, beautiful, and healthy for their entire lives. It
also evoked feelings of being on a heros journey. It also made me feel a little sad as
well, because the song implies that the couple abandoned their children in order to live
out their dreams.
As a whole, I thought the concert was good. Most of the people in the bands
were in tune with each other and able to perform competently. The title of the concert
itself, It Is All About Power, for me, implied the power of the performance of the bands.
They brought together most of the artistic elements and made a cohesive, wonderful
concert. I am also able to appreciate the amount of time and effort that it must have
taken for these bands to perform as well as they did. I would definitely attend another
concert put on by the Jazz/Studio Ensembles.


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Works Cited
Department of Performing Arts. It Is All About Power. Salt Lake City: 2014.