Renowned Composer At The Jazz Ensemble

Jazz composer, Mike Carubia instructing the students in the GCHS Jazz Ensemble.

"Do not just play the notes, energize the notes!" were words of advice given by renown composer/conductor, Mike Carubia. "Explode the first note. Tentative entrances sound like a mistake." He succeeded in expressing powerful ideas as a musician in a kind and relaxed manner to the Garden City High School Jazz Ensemble on April 7th.

Mike Carubia has performed trumpet in world-class jazz bands, has written and arranged many jazz compositions, and has taught Jazz music as the Jazz Ensemble H.S. Director in East Setauket. The Garden City students are currently performing a piece which he arranged called "Don't Get Sassy", by Thad Jones. He stressed the importance of dynamics and of listening to one another; to be right on the beat. He worked out each section with the students, first demonstrating on the trumpet how the sound should be, then letting the students perform it until it reached a level of perfection.

He followed up with a lesson about improvisation. He suggested the students start with a simple song, such as "The Battle Hymn of the Republic", then play the notes of the chords that accompany the song, then connect the chord notes with scale notes. He demonstrated this process and showed how easy it is to get a sense of the melody in your head while the harmony is improvised.

He inspired the students to listen to jazz music. That in itself is a great way to learn jazz. He said that "all your experiences in life come out in your music."

This program was coordinated by the Arts in Education Committee of the Garden City School District Parent Teacher Association funded by the Garden City Union Free School District".