*Please note that this page is for semesterly ensemble auditions. If you are looking for School of Music admission auditions, please visit this webpage.*

Audition Information
Trombone player performing with jazz ensemble
Jazz Chamber Ensemble (Combo) Audition Information

JMU Jazz Chamber Ens. (combo) Auditions, Spring 2024

Thursday, January 18, 2024

Music Building room 108

7:00-8:00 pm

All students interested in playing in a spring semester combo must audition (in person)

  • Bass and guitar amps will be provided (bring a cable); a vocal amp and mic will be provided
  • Combos perform at Clementine Thursday nights between 7:00-9:00 pm.  You must be available, in general, at this time (occasional conflicts with performances by other JMU ensembles are okay).  If you have an ongoing Thursday evening schedule conflict, you cannot participate in combos.
  • Do not register for the class (MUAP 355) until combo rosters have been posted.  Everyone placed into a combo must be registered.

Contact Prof. Dotas (chuckdotas@mac.com) with questions.

Audition Process

Have your spring semester schedule available on your device, including your ensembles and (if possible) applied lesson time.

  1. Each fall semester 2023 combo will play one piece (something you played last semester, that everyone in the group knows); this is the audition for returning students.
  2. Students will be called up from the audience to play a simple blues; this is the audition for new students.
  3. JMU Jazz Faculty will assign students to combos; results will be posted by Monday, January 22.
Ensemble Audition Information

Spring 2024 Jazz Ensemble/Jazz Band Audition Information

Auditions will take place on Tuesday, January 16th, 11:00am-6:00pm, in room B12 (the basement floor practice room area). Please sign up for your audition on the sheet posted on the door to B12. 

NOTE: Do not register for either ensemble until rosters have been determined and posted.

Below are the audition excerpts and other essential information for the auditions:

Written Audition Excerpt/Improvisation Information

Instrumentalists:

  • All wind instruments: Perdido written excerpt (posted below) with LearnJazzStandards.com backing track (will be provided at audition).
    • 1st chorus: written excerpt
    • 2nd chorus: optional improvisation
  • Piano, vibes, guitar, bass: Perdido written excerpt (posted below) with Drum Genius backing track (will be provided at the audition).
    • 1st chorus: written excerpt
    • 2nd chorus: improvisation
    • 3rd chorus: comping/walking
  • Drums: Perdido written excerpt for piano/vibes/guitar/bass(posted below); time keeping/comping only, NO backing track. Please read the information below IN FULL to prepare for your audition.
    • 1st chorus: time keeping/hits supporting the written excerpt
    • 2nd chorus: trading time keeping/soloing (4s or 8s, your choice)
    • Percussionists should play the excerpt in a fast swing style (half note=120bpm), as you would play it in a combo.
    • The melody is given—play the way you would accompany that melody if it were played by a piano or guitar (i.e. play as if you're reading off of a Real Book lead sheet). Your comping and hits should take the rhythm of the melody into account.
    • You can start the time on beat one of the first full bar (letter A)—no need to set up the time or play pickup notes like the melody does.
    • HINT: at this tempo, you must be very judicious about which melody notes to hit. Only accent (via light hits, like you'd play in a combo) those notes you feel ought to be emphasized—at this tempo, less is more! (Note that Sam Woodyard, mentioned below, does not really accent any melodic notes in the opening chorus of the recording—he's playing in an older style).
    • Slightly more active playing (a very sparse solo hit here and there, NOT a drum solo!) in the holes in-between the melodic phrases would be appropriate.
    • On the Ellington Orchestra source recording (played at the tempo you should play your audition excerpt), the drummer, Sam Woodyard, doesn't kick the melody at all during the first chorus, and only does a bit of cymbal fills. His playing on the second chorus (0:48-1:20) introduces a tiny bit of fills on the skins. Once the full band comes in, and behind the solos, he basically plays his famous "chopping wood" style to drive the band (this is a swing era tune, after all, so he plays it old school). For your audition, you can play in a more contemporary style, utlizing a bit more melody accents and rhythmic hits (coming) between phrases of the melody. You can also choose to play more in Sam Woodyard's style, keeping in mind that your drive and subtle use of simple hits (on cymbals or skins) should match his style.
    • Percussionists will also demonstrate medium swing, jazz waltz, brushes, samba, bossa nova, Afro-Cuban grooves, time keeping/soloing (trading 4s or 8s, your choice)

Vocalists:

  • My One and Only Love melody/lyric (posted below) with LearnJazzStandards.com backing track (if singing in C major), which will be provided at the audition.
    • 1st chorus: melody/lyric, stylized as you see fit; no second chorus (no improvisation)
      • Use the reference recordings below to help determine your styling
    • If you wish to sing the piece in a different key, we will provide an appropriate backing track (you should create your own I-Real Pro backing track to prepare for the audition).

Audition Excerpts

*Saxophonists may audition on alto, tenor, or bari sax. You may end up being placed on a different saxophone part, depending on the needs of the ensemble.

¹Trumpet players not auditioning for a lead chair should prepare the Section Trumpet part.

²All tenor trombones prepare the trombone part; there is no separate lead trombone excerpt.

If you play an instrument other than what's listed above, email Chuck Dotas for audition materials: dotascj@jmu.edu.

If you would like to be considered for more than one spot (i.e.: voice and piano, two different wind instruments, etc), please prepare an audition for each part and sign up for two audition times (they can be back-to-back, or not, whichever you prefer). 

Audition Excerpt Backing Track/Reference Recording Links

Perdido (all instrumental auditions):

  • Wind instruments (NOTE: you may modify the speed of the YouTube playback, if needed. The most important criterion in the audition is YOUR TIME FEEL and YOUR USE OF APPROPRIATE STYLISTIC DEVICES such as ghosts, articulations, etc.)
  • Piano, Guitar, Vibes, Bass: Use one of the Drum Genius swing excerpts (your choice) as your backing tracks, quarter note=181bpm
  • Drummers: play the written excerpt (no backing track) at the Ellington recording tempo (half note=120bpm)
  • Reference Recording (Duke Ellington Orchestra: The Great Paris Concert; excerpt: 0:15-0:48 elasped time). FOR REFERENCE ONLY, do NOT play along with this recording on the audition.

My One and Only Love (vocal auditions only):

Semester Schedules

Jazz Ensemble Rehearsals, Music Building Room 108:

Monday - 5:20-6:10pm (or 5:40-6:30*)

Tuesday/Thursday - 3:55-5:10pm

Jazz Band Rehearsals, Forbes Center (Roberts) Room 1115:

Tuesday/Thursday - 3:55-5:10pm

*if no conflicts exist with students' class schedules

Jazz Band/Ensemble Spring Concert #1

  • Soundchecks: Monday, February 19, 6:00-7:30pm (Jazz Band), 8:00-9:30pm (Jazz Ensemble)
  • Concert: Tuesday, February 20, 8:00pm, Forbes Concert Hall

Jazz Band/Ensemble Spring Concert #2

  • Soundchecks: Monday, April 15, 6:00-7:30pm (Jazz Band), 8:00-9:30pm (Jazz Ensemble)
  • Concerts:
    • Tuesday, April 16, 8:00pm, Forbes Concert Hall (Jazz Ensemble)
    • Wednesday, April 17, 8:00pm, Forbes Concert Hall (Jazz Band)

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