Spring 2022 Jazz Composition Class with Dave Hanson
Breakout of a compositional rutt by exploring the expected and unexpected aspects of composition!

Saturdays 11:30 am – 1:00 pm
April 16 thru June 11
No class on June 4 so you can enjoy the Five Points Jazz Festival

Ever get bored with writing 4 and 8-bar phrases and wonder if you might dare changing that up, or conversely, find that performers are puzzled by your asymmetrical phrasing and you wonder if you’re hearing things in a way that other listeners and performers just aren’t, and that maybe your “ears aren’t on right”?  We will explore both sides of that quandary and look to the masters (Monk, Wayne Shorter, Duke Ellington) for some answers.  We will explore the whole idea of letting music “breathe”, and that musical phrases might have a life of their own, whether you think the phrases should be “even” or “odd”, and the role of motivic and harmonic development in all of this.

DAVE HANSON is an arranger, composer, and pianist who has written for a diverse range of artists and ensembles, including the Boston Pops, Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, Denver Brass, Boulder Brass, USAF Falconaires, and Paul Winter. He is co-leader, with Al Hood, of the H2 Big Band whose 2011 release “You’re It” climbed to #10 on the Jazz Week radio chart, and was #1 on Bob Parlocha’s syndicated jazz radio show playlist. In the summer of 2018 H2 Big Band accompanied Take 6, Nnenna Freelon, Clint Holmes, and Kirk Whalum in a tribute to Ray Charles at Aspen, and more recently backed up Darius Rucker at the Vilar Center in Beaver Creek. Hanson teaches at the Lamont School of Music, University of Denver, and is actively performing and teaching in the Denver Area.

Also offering, Jazz Piano Class with Jack Dunlevie