The performance was put on by jazz students of all degree levels. It was at the Grand Street Café in Kansas City, Missouri on November 15th. The performance was hosted by UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance. The theme of the performance was not very clear, since there were performers of all levels of expertise it varied as they played.

The performance started with smooth jazz, it was a very calmly setting and it went perfectly for the beginning of the performance. As the performance continued there was more of contemporary jazz that started to shine through. As the night went on the music seemed to get more upbeat, when I noticed the change is when it went from smooth jazz to swing, it picked up everyone’s mood in the audience and the entire show really changed after that. Along with that there was some hot jazz, along with some cool jazz and even some Kansas City style. It was a great mixture without the music being overwhelming. There was a good balance between upbeat and chill music and it was nice to see that balance.

Some of the soloists did sound similar, there was some Duke Ellington sounds in there. That was the only soloist that I noticed, because of the large mix of soloists and different levels of musicians there was a hard time picking out the different sounds throughout the whole performance.

I would say my favorite part of the performance was when they switched from smooth jazz to hot jazz. It really picked up the mood in the audience and was nice because it did not stay the same the whole time. I also liked the different levels of musicians it made the performance a great experience. My least favorite part of the performance was towards the end it went back to only smooth jazz. Smooth jazz can be enjoyable, but I personally like something more upbeat.