Customer Reviews

Jazz Composition and Orchestration

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I had borrowed this text at least five times from our public library and decided, after the fifth time, that I needed to own this book.

The scope implied by the title, "Jazz Composition and Orchestration", is narrow enough to be slightly misleading. The actual content is so vast and complete that it could almost be considered the answer to the question, "What is music?". I've learned many things from this book about music in general which actually don't fall within the scope of the title. And yet, each of these THINGS is presented in a way which greatly enhances my concept of "Jazz Composition and Orchestration".

I am making certain to do all of the exercises after each chapter. Doing so in the context of my own writing projects has helped me to write some of my best works to date.

Bill Russo is a major figure in the world of jazz composition and arranging. His writing and his place in the trombone section contributed significantly to forming the sound and identity of the Stan Kenton band. This book's title and its sheer weight imply much more than is delivered. It is by no means satisfactorily extensive in its coverage of either composition or orchestration. For the most part it fails to 'teach' either of these subjects, rather it presents aspects of them through Mr Russo's own personal filter, a fact which he states in his Preface. The accompanying CD of musical examples, which by its inclusion also seems to suggest great value, is of little use because the excerpts are generally far too brief to enable their intentions to sink in. Also, the lack of indexing on the CD makes locating any specific example impossible. The reason I believe this book warrants at least a 4-star rating is that it's an excellent coffee table book for accomplished arranger/composers. Those of us who fall into that group can pick up the book and mentally applaud or denounce the author's statements and opinions while being aware that he is a musician who believes in what he does and who does what he does very well. On the list of the book's nearly-unforgivables is the discussion of strings by dealing only the with 'cello, which Mr Russo justifies by saying that whatever applies to 'cello pretty much applies as well to viola and violin. The fact that he encountered a specific situation in which using four 'celli was a better choice than utilizing standard string quartet is not sufficient reason for excluding violin, viola and contrabass from the discussion. Mr Russo has certain opinions - clearly labeled as such - with which many will argue. What is highly commendable is the fact that he does not present his personal preferences as being rules. As I mentioned above, he does what he does, and he believes what he believes. In spite of what I consider to be the faults of this book, I do not regret spending the money to purchase it. For me it's fun and interesting to peruse. Neophyte arranger/composers may want to look at it as representing places they may someday wish to go, but they must search elsewhere for their basic knowledge. Finally, there can be no serious criticism of the author's use of his own music to demonstrate his theories at work. William Russo drew from scores with which he is very familiar and he doesn't have to pay royalties to any other composers for their presence in the book. Bob Freedman

First off, be careful of that product description, which is a little off: This is not an audiobook version of Russo's 800+ page text (Although how cool would that be?).

I've had the book since the 90's and never knew this CD of audio examples from it existed. I'm tempted to say it would

have saved me countless hours tracking down old Kenton recordings, not to mention hours mocking them up in Finale and Sibelius. But the truth is, most of the examples on the CD are barely seconds long, just a few clock in at over 10 seconds, even fewer are longer than that. So it's worth having the larger context of the full pieces wherever you can.

Russo's notes in the booklet from '96 are a treat to read and give a flavor of the man behind the work; I'd always found his writing voice in the text somewhat opaque. This is a musician who straddled two worlds: classical composition and jazz arranging, and I think the book speaks most clearly to those who share that perspective. Russo's approach doesn't try to be universal or claim to be some kind of industry standard. This is one composer describing his relationship to musical materials and some of what goes on in the workshop of his mind when he's writing.

Because the number of examples exceeds 99 (and they couldn't or didn't opt for a second CD), each chapter's audio examples are consolidated on a single track. Yes, it's a problem because these short examples are not meant to be listened to as a whole - or even a whole chapter at a time. Each one is meant to illustrate a point in the text and if you're working through you'll likely want to repeat each one a dozen or more times to let them sink in. For me, using the scan button just doesn't cut it.

Fortunately there are a number of solutions and some are free. Audio files can be read into any DAW or sequencer, including free ones such as Audacity, broken up and saved as individual files. You can then either burn your own 2 CD set or play the files off of your hard drive, etc.

Some software that transfers vinyl records to digital form will automatically separate tracks into individual audio files when encountering a few seconds of silence. You can connect an external CD player instead of a turntable or reconfigure the inputs to tap into the CD playing in your computer. There's both commercial and Open Source software that does this.

Another hardware solution is one of those trainer CD players that Tascam puts out that has a cueing function that's pretty comfortable to use. I use mine to repeat and slow down parts I'm trying to learn.

In spite of having accumulated many of the pieces referred to in the book over the years, it's great fun hearing this CD,

knowing that Russo understood the value of presenting this material for students.

Having studied with Bill Russo for 5 years some years ago and to whom I personally credit with opening doors to music and arranging that answered years of questions, I recommend this book with enthusiasm. Page after page of examples open up various approaches to arranging in ways that

are timeless and inspiring. While this book is not for those looking for a "quick fix"or a bunch of "magic formulas," it is definitely for those who wish to venture further into the "Land of the Unexplored"and those who are not satisfied with just arranging in a standard way.

I do also suggest that this book is for experienced composer/arrangers and not beginners.I also suggest that the companion CD(by the same title as the book) should be obtained(perhaps from Amazon .com) This will allow the writer to hear the book examples played. Although the examples are not easily found in the book since the CD and book are not clearly coordinated there is enough good material on the CD to make it well worth while to search out the written examples. Finally, this is a reference book to be kept always, both as a reference and as a tribute to a great writer and teacher and a musician whom I most truly admire and respect.

Clearly some of those who found fault with this book didn't understand the circumstances of its creation and why it was written. I knew Bill and discussed this and his earlier book with him so I have some insights to share.

Bill wanted to convey his ideas on composition and arranging in a larger form than had been previously available. At the time of the writing of the book, the year 1968, NOTHING of the big band repertoire in the main was available as written music or as scores. Bill wanted to use Duke Ellington's music to illustrate his many points. Because he realized that this music and other works by others were simply not available to him, he made a decision because he had no other choice: he used examples from his own work. The examples he chose emanate from the repertoire he created after 1959, in other words, the jazz orchestra with four cellos, which he was still using in 1968 and would soon abandon.

The book is abstract and rambling, and is a treasure for the many wonderful ideas presented that had never appeared before. This is not a book to read through quickly; it is a book to read again and again, to discuss, and to absorb slowly. Bill was a very deep thinker who believed that the composer who wrote jazz was not respected, and in a way this volume attempted to rectify that wrong. At the same time, he found the modern jazz of the late sixties disturbing, finding new inspiration in rock music. So in a way, this was a cathartic experience for him, for he would move on as a composer, returning to the standard big band instrumentation several years later. Yet he had no regrets about this book in his later years; he only felt bad that he didn't get to write a newer volume that would deal with Ellington's music, music that by that time he'd conducted many times with his Chicago Jazz Ensemble and had been donated to the Smithsonian, in short, music that was now readily available to be used as examples.

The accompanying CD was not available for many years and made the use of the book even more forbidding. At least the reader who comes to this book for the first time has this tool. It might also be good for the reader to go through Composing Music, where Bill created a syllabus for students who had no experience writing music, and he invites you to jump in and just do it. Both books reveal the two sides of the coin that was Bill Russo.

If you are serious about music for jazz ensemble, somewhere in your travels you must read this and devote some time to it. Listen to Bill's music, the symphonies as well as the music for Stan Kenton. Russo was a major American composer, and there is so much of him and his values in this book, it is as if he has not left us.

Definitely not recommended as a primary arranging text. This book could have been written much more simply. Instead of referencing so many of his own obscure compositons, Russo could have illustrated his concepts with dozens of more recognizable works. If you're looking for something else, try Inside the Score.

This is more a compendium of the author's prejudices and rantings, defensively rendered, than a book about arranging. All the examples are from his own works--he is not recognized as a significant composer. I learned much more from "Inside the Score" by Rayburn Wright, and I recommend this book instead.

Also recommended: PENTATONIC SCALES FOR THE JAZZ-ROCK KEYBOARDIST by JEFF BURNS.