Boise State Jazz Orchestra:
The premier jazz group on campus, the Jazz Orchestra meets twice weekly and performs at least one time per semester. They are featured as part of the Gene Harris Jazz Festival and can be heard in the community and on the internet. BSUJO engages with the study of the big band tradition, workshopping original compositions, commissioning original music, and experiencing the modern popular/commercial music industry through recording projects and performances.
Jazz Lab Band: Currently inactive
Jazz Combos: Jazz Combos: As an extension of chamber music, jazz combos are small jazz groups that are comprised of a rhythm section (defined as bass, percussion, and at least one chordal instrument such as piano, guitar, or vibes) and can include other instruments such as saxophone, trumpet, flute, etc. Most jazz combos will range in size from 3 to 7 musicians. At BSU, jazz combos are either self-directed (student-run) or instructor-led. These groups rehearse each week and perform an end-of-semester concert. They are also encouraged to seek and book their gigs in the community. These ensembles primarily focus on the Jazz tradition of small groups in the period between the late 1940s through the mid-1960s, implementing the study and performance of standards and the development of original arrangements. A group may, with permission from the Director and instructor, be oriented toward other genres of music.
Jazz Improvisation I (spring only): This course focuses on the development of jazz improvisation techniques within the Jazz tradition. This includes chord-scale theory, transcription, tuning learning, and jazz practice techniques. Through this course, students will develop the skills needed to continue their journey with improvisation in any genre by mastering the fundamentals of Jazz improvisation. Students should be familiar with all major scales and able to read Western music notation before taking this course, and percussionists should expect to play piano or mallet instruments.
Jazz Improvisation II (fall only): This course will build on the fundamentals of Jazz Improvisation I by introducing more advanced harmonic concepts and repertoire from the 1950’s and beyond. Students in this course will study various approaches to “out” playing, along with techniques for commercial/popular music improvisation. Students taking this course should be comfortable learning and playing jazz standards before entry.
Jazz Techniques (fall only): Jazz pedagogy for music education majors. Students in the course will learn basic techniques for jazz drumset, piano, and bass through application. Additional topics will include music technology for jazz, jazz theory/improvisation, and an overview of the responsibilities and challenges faced by jazz educators in the American Band and Orchestra (and Choir) environment.
Introduction to Jazz: Develops listening skills, historical understanding, and general appreciation of jazz as an art form within its specifically American cultural heritage and context. Attendance at two live jazz performances is required. No previous musical background is necessary.
Survey of Jazz (spring only): (not currently offered) Explores interpretation of America’s original musical art form through listening and through discussion of socio-cultural contexts of jazz. Survey covers stylistic influences of nineteenth-century Africa and Western Europe through current living exponents of jazz. Available for undergraduate or graduate credit.
Jazz Instrumental Lessons: Jazz-specific private lessons available to most instruments.