We just received some great feedback from a show we did at the
Wagner Noël Performing Arts Center in Midland, TX
for the kids from The University of Texas of the Permian Basin
Rea Music and Academic Center:
Dear Lena,
I
am reading the concert reviews from my class and wanted to share some
of the descriptions of the concert with you. These kids had a powerful
memory created by your performance on November 15th. It is obvious from
their writing that they learned a lot, were engaged by you and the
rest of the musicians, and now have a positive attitude about live jazz.
Thank you so much for the education you provided these students!
Dr. Dan Keast, Associate Professor & Director of Bands
The University of Texas of the Permian Basin
Rea Music and Academic Center of the Wagner Noël Performing Arts Center
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“If
it weren't for this opportunity that this college course gave I
would've never attended a concert of this style of music. This is
because I'm more of a country girl, in other words I'm a cowgirl and I
usually listen to Brooks and Dunn, George Strait, or Loretta Lynn and I
not to this particular style of music. Thanks to this college course
I've learned to appreciate the culture, meaning, and many more things
about different styles of music. Hearing Lena Prima during concert
opened my mind to start appreciating their work and their passion. This
also helped me on stopping being an ignorant person when coming to
music.”
“When
the group was going to play a song they would ask us if we knew it, but
they would bring up a movie in which that song came out. If I recall she
mentioned the Wizard of Oz and Elf. I know the songs and when they
played it I enjoyed the concert even more, especially when they played a
song that had come out in The Mask. The names of the groups that
performed those songs, not specifically these but songs that they played
were Dixieland and Big Band. Most of the songs they performed were
written by Louis Prima and other artists. I enjoyed the trip and wish
that I could do it once again.”
“I really loved the experience of the Jazz Concert and I hope I can go back again.”
“Lena
would use her voice as a call and the saxophone would be a response as
if Lena was asking a question and he would answer it.”
“I really enjoyed the Concert in many ways! Good thing I was able to go with the UTPB group and watch The Lena Prima Group.”
“All
the songs were jazz and swing but there was a specific song called “That Old Black Magic” that would switch from swing to a Latin beat and then
change back. That song was great because it would change to a Latin
beat and it made it sound so good.”
“Riffs
are the parts of the music that are repeated throughout the piece.
Scatting is when an artist makes up random words off the top of their
head and sings them. Lena Prima’s band was wonderful and used the
elements of music to make them sound unique. I loved the tempo of the
music that Lena played and how she really got lost in her music. This
was definitely a concert worth seeing and Lena put on a great show!”
“The
quality of the sounds that they were creating was simply amazing.
Lena’s beautiful voice made us travel to a different style of time where
we had never been.”
“Something
that was also really amazing was that the drummer started improvising
and he was rocking out on the drums for quite some time. That was
something so incredible, because he would do the drums so fast and he
just wouldn’t stop and kept on drumming out. That was really one of the
best and awesome things that happened in the concert.”
“My
favorite tune was “Somewhere over the Rainbow”. The Jazz concert played
similar music from the examples I’ve discussed and heard throughout
this course. I thought this was a great jazz concert, it was a new
experience. I would actually recommend people to watch them. You can
actually tell you each member loves what they do.”
“I remember thinking that the concert was going to be boring, but it was really fun and i want to hear more of them.”
“I really loved the experience of the Jazz Concert and I hope I can go back again.”
“The
concert itself was a great experience, before it I had no clue who Lena
Prima, or Louis Prima were, but now I am full of knowledge of who he
was. I learned that he was a great jazz composer from New Orleans, and
had a great sense of humor.”
“The
actual concert was magnificent. Lena Prima was very nice to us and very
peppy! It brought the entire ambiance very positive. Lena sang
beautifully and her band played amazing. The band consisted of the
piano, bass, drums, saxophone, trumpet, and trombone. It was a very
simple band but every instrument brought the song in together to make it
sound great.”
“This
concert was a really great one. To tell you the truth when we first got
there I thought it was going to be boring but once it started I enjoyed
it a lot. I almost got sucked up into the music.”
“Lena Prima was the first concert I have attended. The concert was a great experience for everyone not only me.”
“When
the instruments started to play some solo’s I got very excited I knew
that it was going to be very interesting thing to watch. The first one
that went was the trombone it started out really slow and very low notes
then he started to go faster and start getting higher and higher.”
“I
thought the Jazz concert played similar music from the many examples
I’ve heard and have discussed throughout this course. Overall, I thought
this was a great jazz band concert and would definitely recommend
people to see them play.”
