Who says big band jazz is for old people? Not this teenage composer.

Who says big band jazz is for old people? Not this teenage composer.

Transcript¹

Some 300 young musicians from around the country are in New York for Jazz at Lincoln Center's annual Essentially² Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition and Festival. They're attending workshops and jam sessions, meeting professional musicians and competing.

Skylar Tang, 16, has already won her award. The San Francisco Bay Area trumpet³ player is the winner of the Dr. J. Douglas White Composition and Arranging Contest, an honor bestowed⁴ on an original composition written and arranged for big bands by a high school student.

Tang said the vibe of her winning piece, Kaleidoscope, is kind of "frantic," a bit like her life right now. "There's a lot of stress in the tune⁵. I go to school. I have assessments⁶ and tests. Maybe that has something to do with it," she said.

It took her about seven months to create her work. Composing for big band is "quite a process," Tang said. As a result of her win, she'll receive $1,000 and a composing and arranging lesson with Grammy winner and longtime Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra member, Ted⁷ Nash. The orchestra also recorded Tang's piece.

Skylar Tang attends Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra's recording⁸ of her original composition Kaleidoscope.

Courtesy of Jazz at Lincoln Center

To determine the winner, Nash listened for "several factors like the strength of their thematic material, their harmony, their use of the instruments, the overall feeling of the music."

Tang's entry was remarkable⁹ for its maturity¹⁰, Nash said. "You have the melody, you have solos, you have backgrounds, you have a development, sometimes we call it a 'shout chorus,'" he said. "She has all of these important elements in the piece, but it's deeply personal as well."

Nash is thrilled that students have come from all over the country to participate in the Essentially Ellington Festival. "We've gone through a period where people weren't that interested in big bands," he said.

Nash credited Wynton Marsalis, managing and artistic¹¹ Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, with reversing that trend by "understanding the importance of having an orchestral vision and orchestral voice in jazz."

Tang said she's inspired by all kinds of music from different time periods, videos of which she devours¹² on the Internet. Her training began with classical piano when she was a little girl; she started playing in her school jazz bands in sixth grade. She said she "absolutely loves" trumpet player Roy Hargrove and admires contemporary artists like pianist Aaron Parks and drummers and composers Terri Lynne Carrington and Kendrick Scott Oracle¹³.

During quarantine, Tang learned how to make split screen videos to share her cover arrangements online. In her cover of Do You Wanna Do Nothing With Me by Lawrence, she plays trumpet, guitar, drums and keyboards.

"That's what I love about music. It's about creating. It's about expressing yourself and it's about innovation," she said.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

3 trumpet   

n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘

参考例句：

• He plays the violin, but I play the trumpet.他拉提琴，我吹喇叭。
• The trumpet sounded for battle.战斗的号角吹响了。

4 bestowed   

赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It was a title bestowed upon him by the king. 那是国王赐给他的头衔。
• He considered himself unworthy of the honour they had bestowed on him. 他认为自己不配得到大家赋予他的荣誉。

5 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

6 assessments   

n.评估( assessment的名词复数 )；评价；（应偿付金额的）估定；（为征税对财产所作的）估价

参考例句：

• He was shrewd in his personal assessments. 他总能对人作出精明的评价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Surveys show about two-thirds use such assessments, while half employ personality tests. 调查表明，约有三分之二的公司采用了这种测评；而一半的公司则采用工作人员个人品质测试。 来自百科语句

7 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

8 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

9 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

10 maturity   

n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期

参考例句：

• These plants ought to reach maturity after five years.这些植物五年后就该长成了。
• This is the period at which the body attains maturity.这是身体发育成熟的时期。

11 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

12 devours   

吞没( devour的第三人称单数 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光

参考例句：

• If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. 若有人想要害他们，就有火从他们口中出来，烧灭仇敌。
• It eats away parts of his skin; death's firstborn devours his limbs. 他本身的肢体要被吞吃，死亡的长子要吞吃他的肢体。

13 oracle   

n.神谕，神谕处，预言

参考例句：

• In times of difficulty,she pray for an oracle to guide her.在困难的时候，她祈祷神谕来指引她。
• It is a kind of oracle that often foretells things most important.它是一种内生性神谕，常常能预言最重要的事情。