Jazz Singing - Take 25

Yes folks, the jazz singing class at The Sage has started again, with a class of about 25. It seems that everyone wants to do it. Being the first day of term there were many new singers, including 3 men. One of them is a drummer who just fancied learning singing.

There were some lovely voices and signs that some of the new people were experienced singers, but Lindsay rightly told us just to be ourselves and to do it our way so I did it my way although, of course, I didn't sing My Way which isn't a very jazzy song. We’ve made a good and challenging start, learning to count the band in - 'a one a two a one two three four' - and also trying some scat. We’ve already started on microphone techniques, which must be a bit frightening for new people, but it’s best to be familiar with the 'do's and don'ts' as soon as possible.

We were accompanied by Jeremy and Dean on guitars, which I found less straightforward than practising with the piano. In fact at one part of Horace Silver's A Song For My Father I had a strange feeling of singing in mid air and not knowing which note to sing next.

Frightening but exhilarating.

So 5 new songs to learn, including I Got Rhythm and Sweet Georgia Brown’. We’ll be having a swinging time. Ann Alex.