Pupils build up music knowledge with masterclass from Jazz musician Darius Brubeck

Darius Brubeck (eldest son of the great Dave Brubeck) came to visit the Music School here at Shrewsbury on Friday 4^th November.

During the morning, he presented a masterclass to a handful of Jazz Pianists that are students of Mr James Taylor here at school and in the afternoon he worked with one of our Jazz Ensembles in a workshop session.

In the evening, Darius was joined by the members of his illustrious quartet: Matt Ridley on Bass, Wesley Gibbens on Drums and Dave O’Higgins on Saxophone. The concert was extremely well-received by an appreciative and knowledgeable audience. World class music by world class musicians!

Pupils who were a part of the workshop reflected on the day. 

Natalia T (EDH, LVI) said: "Darius Brubeck’s jazz workshop was a brilliant opportunity to build on a strong foundation of jazz knowledge that Shrewsbury cultivates with its jazz and big bands. We, a small big band arrangement, were given two new pieces by Darius to play together. The first piece was particularly challenging as it was in a compound time signature (7/4) making it difficult to find a groove together however Darius walked us through the main rhythm of the piece, breaking down a more difficult idea into a simpler concept. Very quickly, he had all of us playing together and in time! He then welcomed us to improvise over the top of the backing groove we had just pieced together before moving onto the next musical item which was based on South African music which also was incredibly enjoyable to take turns improvising over.

"Later that day the Brubeck quartet held a concert which was absolutely phenomenal! From fast-paced outrageous music, to slower more soothing tunes, to a fabulous take on Dave Brubeck’s famous Take Five, the quartet covered a varied range of jazz. As a fellow sax player myself I found the saxophonist particularly outstanding – and his improvisational skills and fluency was truly magical to watch. Personally, I could not wipe the smile off of my face for the entirety of the evening and walked away feeling resolutely inspired!"

Ethan P (I, UVI) added: "The gig was incredible. The professionalism of the musicians and the creativity on display blew me away, and to think some of us were able to just come and watch it all for free. I was particularly enthralled by the tone and sound the drummer was able to create."

Mike Skipper

Head of Academic Music