Take a shy little girl who loves music, Joni Mitchell and the Philippines where she was born and has spent most of her childhood. Send her off to a scary Sussex boarding school and what does she do? She takes saxophone lessons, falls in love with jazz and starts setting her own poetry in motion.
Fast forward ten years and we find Mishka Adams, daughter of a Filipina sculptor mother and British writer father, enjoying life in London.
“When my father insisted on sending me to boarding school it was scary, says Mishka. I protested for a long time but appreciate it now. It was very hard, going home just three times a year.
“I started saxophone lessons aged ten and had a lovely teacher who was into jazz and gave me beautiful pieces to play. Music was a comfort and in secondary school I bought my first jazz record, one by Louis Armstrong, got involved in a jazz trio and big bands. I had a little stereo in the dormitory. I loved singing at school and wrote a lot of poetry”.
After A Levels, Mishka went back to the Philippines and started doing small gigs and happy hours.
Then came the chance to be noticed. “I was asked to sing at a Courtney Pine concert and someone from Candid sent a video to Alan Bates, whose wife is from the Phillipines and wanted him to showcase musicians from her homeland.
“The rest, as they say, is laro.”
Mishka finished her masters a year ago and, having met “a lot of lovely people, a lot of musicians who are always learning” now wants to enjoy her music and to work with others.
At 24, she also teaches music. “My youngest student is 14 and I remember how shy I used to be and tread gently. What’s the quote “Tread gently, you tread on my dreams?”"
If you want a glimpse of Mishka’s talent listen to her latest album, Space; the poetry is all there.
By: Patricia McLoughlin
Jazz is an American art form whose roots date back to the mid-19th century slave songs and chants. The early 20th century saw the art form blossom as instrumental music in the southern United States, mainly along the Mississippi river and specifically New Orleans, Louisiana.
Early instrumental jazz combos of New Orleans varied in instrumentation. More often than not, these early jazz groups generally consisted of trumpet, clarinet, trombone, tuba and drums. This instrumentation became what is known as the “dixieland” combo, making its way up the Mississippi river to Chicago where the music became popularized by jazz greats such as Louis Armstrong.
Dixieland combos can be thought of as groups that play “polyphonic” improvisational music. Each instrument is independent of every other instrument, with each player creating separate musical improvisations based on known melodies, or “tunes” of the day.
The players of these early jazz combos each had a separate role within the group. The trumpet player was depended upon to state the melody of the song, while the clarinet would improvise complex lines above him. The trombonists role was to improvise or “fill in” the middle register with lines and notes that were essential to the chord changes of the song itself. The tuba player (or bass player) generally laid down root notes (and 5ths) of each chord on beats 1 and 3 of each measure. The tuba served as the harmonic anchor for the group. Lastly, it was the drummers role to keep everyone together by keeping a steady beat throughout the entirety of the song.
As jazz music developed throughout the 1940s and 1950s, jazz combo instrumentation began to become more standardized. The jazz “quintet” and “sextet” became very popular during this time. The quintet consisted of trumpet and alto (or tenor) sax as the main melodic instruments while the rhythm section (piano, bass and drums) took care of rhythm and harmony.
The sextet added a trombone to form what essentially was a three horn front line, with rhythm section accompaniment. The extra melodic instrument of the sextet made it possible for the horns to add more harmonic depth to the sound of the group. Each instrument had a role not only as a melodic voice, but also as an integral component of the harmonic structure as well.
Modern jazz combos consist of a variety of instrumentation – 4, 5 horn combos are common place. As the group grows in size however, the name “combo” is replaced by “band” or “little big band”.
The jazz combo has provided a musical and creative outlet for countless musicians over the last 100 years. The jazz combo continues to provide jazz musicians the opportunity to work together to make music not only as a group but also to develop their own voice as individual jazz improvisers. It is, and probably always will be, the perfect vehicle for learning the art of jazz improvisation.
By: James P Martin
A lot of opinion that jazz are the music for elite and well established. But when us look back to root of the jazz may be spelled out members exactly leaves for back. Jazz is an expression art in the form of music. Jazz conceived of basal music in life man and way of evaluating his traditional values. Tradition jazz grows from a dusky skin public life style in oppressed America. Initially, influence from tribal drums and music gospel, blues and field hollers (rallying call of farmer) the parturition has showed that jazz hardly relating to defense of life and human life expression.
What is interesting is that of word “Jazz” comes from a vulgar term applied for action of sexual. Some of rhythms in jazz have ever been associated with houses for whore and women with dislike reputation. On the way then, jazz finally becomes form of music art, either in typical composition and also improvisation, what reflects melody spontaneously. Musicians jazz usually express the feeling which do not easy to be explained, because this music must be felt at heart. “If you ask it you will never know” so according to Louis Armstrong.
Legend of jazz is started in New Orleans and grows to Mississippi, Memphis, St. Louis, and finally Chicago. Of course jazz influenced by the music in New Orleans, tribal drums African and Europe for the music structure. Reasoning of jazz cannot be discharged from fact where jazz is influenced by many music such as: music spiritual, cakewalks, ragtime and blues. One of legend jazz believed that around 1891, an owner of hair shaped shave shop in New Orleans so called Buddy Bolden breezes it’s cornet and from that moment jazz started as new breakthrough in world of music. Half century after that, jazz in America gives many contributions in music world, studied in university, and finally becomes a music stream which is serious and considered.
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By: Andri Irawan