An upcoming free performance on March 9 at 8 p.m. by Sinclair’s Jazz Ensemble and guest performer Rob Parton will be something to both experience and learn from, Parton said.
“The arts can provide many types of learning opportunities. Enjoying the aesthetics in life and getting away from the Internet, YouTube, Facebook etc. will make you a well rounded individual and ultimately make your life more enjoyable,” he said.
Parton has played the trumpet since sixth grade.
Though he has been living in Columbus for a year and a half, Parton still plays with his Chicago band, the Rob Parton Big Band. He has kept busy in Columbus teaching music at Capital University and performing with many different groups including the Columbus Jazz Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Andre Bocelli and various Broadway shows coming into Columbus including Billy Elliot and West Side Story, according to Parton.
Parton will lead the Jazz Ensemble in a series of 10 songs that includes the arrangement of “Gonna Fly Now” made famous by the Rocky movies.
An ensemble is a group of musicians, according to Bruce Jordan, director of the Sinclair Jazz Ensemble and professor of Music at Sinclair. “It’s the French term for ‘group.’ The jazz ensemble is typically a big group with five saxophones, four trombones, four trumpets and a rhythm section of piano, bass and drums,” Jordan said.
The notable element of jazz that distinguishes it from other art forms is the combination of the written musical score with a free flowing element. This free flowing element, or improvisation, mimics life in a way that has value beyond the stage, according to Parton.
“All of us improvise everyday. Improvisation is a sort of problem solving that we go through on a minute by minute basis in everyday life. In jazz music, we are given parameters to improvise with. I often compare learning and playing jazz to a newborn that is born into a family. There really is no manual that comes with the child for him or her to read and he/she learns to speak by imitation and trial and error. Jazz is a language that you must listen to on a regular basis to gain more vocabulary. Jazz is a lifelong pursuit,” Parton said.
Parton said a featured artist gives band members the opportunity to improvise with a fellow musician with whom they don’t usually get to play. The audience is not irrelevant in this exchange.
“When I am performing with the ensembles, I am interacting with how they are playing and how the audience is responding. Every piece of music that I have sent contains ‘blowing,’ which means improvised soloing. This is music that is made up on the spot based on parameters set by the arranger and composer of the ‘chart’ we are playing,” Parton said.
He said playing in a band is a social experience. Performing with various bands gives Parton what he loves most about being a musician, “Meeting lots of new people with one thing in mind— making music,” he said.
The performance will take place at 8 p.m. in Blair Hall Theatre.