In pursuing a degree in music, especially within the realm of performance, I find that jazz gives me a language that reaches the broadest audience. My journey in learning the tradition of jazz, through its many musical sentences and lines that I’ve learned and emulated from my predecessors, to that of the constant musical exchange of sounds, textures, and motifs that I have shared with other musicians, feels similar to that of a child learning their first language. With learning jazz vocabulary, I’ve often found myself playing language that I had little understanding of, or jumbling my sentences and phrases together backwards and out of order to create music, with much of my progress coming just as much from learning structures and forms of music as from isolated patterns and lines. However, with all of my struggles and slip-ups, I feel no greater form of clarity than when I play and improvise on my horn for others to hear, with the music I make not needing words to elicit a reaction to. In making and studying the language of jazz and other Black American music, I feel that I am learning another beautiful avenue of communication, as well as contributing my own voice for other people to listen to and resonate with. Furthermore, in studying the language and history of jazz, I am given the opportunity to use my art to represent movements, ideas, and people that might be neglected by other composers of Western music. Coming from my own background as a child of immigrants from Belize, I feel that a lot of art, especially that in the music medium, often focuses on a US or Western focused experience when expressing the stories and perspectives of marginalized and underrepresented people. In learning the music of Black America, I would like to use its language to spread awareness and celebrate those that may have been neglected in social and cultural discourse centering on a mainly American lens. For example, in wanting to highlight the works of Pan-African writers, especially those from places around the Caribbean, I created a tone poem off of the poem A Return to My Native Land by French poet Aime Ceasire, who birthed the Negritude movement of Black art. In creating the piece, I focused heavily on the themes of European assimilation and integration on the many post-colonial nations of the greater African diaspora, and tried to characterize the feelings and characters they brought to mind into aspects of the piece. In using my art to combine the media and art of those often left out of the discussion of the Black experience in contemporary American politics, I can hopefully bring more attention to these influential artists and expose them to a broader audience.

I want to create music that pushes the boundaries of improvisation outside of the traditional jazz idiom and into other spaces where improvisation is often discouraged. I would like to help contribute to a musical language created by musicians and improvisers like Charlie Parker, Lennie Tristano, and Anthony Braxton, who created and rearranged structures and vocabulary within more traditional forms of jazz expression. I have attempted to do this in the music I compose, by combining the harmonic language of jazz through the sequenced and looped programming of electronic music. I’ve produced songs with coded percussive rhythms and chords, allowing other musicians to improvise over them while editing their sound live through hardware and other programs connected to their instruments. In synthesizing the language of jazz into areas that aren't as easily accessible with improvisation, I feel I am helping to create a unique space for spontaneity that can exist outside of the music that it comes from. I also want to use my art to represent movements, ideas, and people that might be neglected by other composers of Western music. Coming from my own background as a child of immigrants from Belize, I feel that a lot of art, especially that in the music medium, often focuses on a US or Western focused experience when expressing the stories and perspectives of marginalized and underrepresented people. I would like to use my music to spread awareness and celebrate those that may have been neglected in social and cultural discourse centering on a mainly American lens. For example, in wanting to highlight the works of Pan-African writers, especially those from places around the Caribbean, I created a tone poem off of the poem A Return to My Native Land by French poet Aime Ceasire, who birthed the Negritude movement of Black art. In creating the piece, I focused heavily on the themes of European assimilation and integration on the many post-colonial nations of the greater African diaspora, and tried to characterize the feelings and characters they brought to mind into aspects of the piece. In using my art to combine the media and art of those often left out of the discussion of the Black experience in contemporary American politics, I can hopefully bring more attention to these influential artists and expose them to a broader audience.

I love music. I’ve cried to music, laughed to music, and when no one is watching me have danced to music. Every memory in my life could probably be sent to music of some kind. I even go to college for music, taking and dedicating time of my life to write, play, and discuss music with people who care as much as I do about it. From this love, jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal’s composition appropriately titled “I Love Music” feels like a transcendental exploration of one musician’s dedication, care, and above all else, love to his craft. In showcasing his love for music, Jamal’s piece structurally feels more thoroughly-composed than most jazz pieces. Although the song is made up of a relatively short 12 bar AB structure, the piece covers more ground harmonically than most jazz standards, in turn giving Jamal a chance to perform and improvise more exploratively. Jamal’s playing on it is especially inspiring to me, as he puts himself and his fellow musicians through several stylistic interpretations, with him playing the piece swung, in a latin feel, and even solo piano. In liberally exploring his piece, Jamal gives “I Love Music” a more life-like character that I rarely see in other music. Above all else, the piece stands to me personally as an affirmation. I play this composition before every big audition I have in music, as no matter how difficult or “bad” I might feel about my performance, the piece helps me remember that I’m playing music for my own enjoyment. While other pieces of music for me are fun to listen to or dissect endlessly for my own music, Ahmad Jamal’s “I Love Music” feels like an important moment in time for me, one in which I could get lost in for a long time.

I love music. I’ve cried to music, laughed to music, and when no one is watching me have danced to music. Every memory in my life could probably be sent to music of some kind. I even go to college for music, taking and dedicating time of my life to write, play, and discuss music with people who care as much as I do about it. From this love, jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal’s composition appropriately titled “I Love Music” feels like a transcendental exploration of one musician’s dedication, care, and above all else, love to his craft. In showcasing his love for music, Jamal’s piece structurally feels more thoroughly-composed than most jazz pieces. Although the song is made up of a relatively short 12 bar AB structure, the piece covers more ground harmonically than most jazz standards, in turn giving Jamal a chance to perform and improvise more exploratively. Jamal’s playing on it is especially inspiring to me, as he puts himself and his fellow musicians through several stylistic interpretations, with him playing the piece swung, in a latin feel, and even solo piano. In liberally exploring his piece, Jamal gives “I Love Music” a more life-like character that I rarely see in other music. Above all else, the piece stands to me personally as an affirmation. I play this composition before every big audition I have in music, as no matter how difficult or “bad” I might feel about my performance, the piece helps me remember that I’m playing music for my own enjoyment. While other pieces of music for me are fun to listen to or dissect endlessly for my own music, Ahmad Jamal’s “I Love Music” feels like an important moment in time for me, one in which I could get lost in for a long time.

I wrote my piece after a period of extreme sleep paralysis in the spring of my senior year. Although the beat itself has no lyrical or strong melodical element(aside from the toy sax solo halfway through), I tried to invoke this theme through the contrast between much of the instrumentation in the track, with much of the bass and drum activity staying fairly stagnant, while the synth pads and other noise effects silently creep in and out of focus in the verses, only to enter washed in heavy distortion as if to indicate that the "phantasma" itself in the nightmare has struck the viewer. Despite this, I tried very hard to keep the song somewhat whimsical, as I don't really take my nightmares too seriously.

My first visceral musical experience comes to me as a dream, with John Coltrane’s recording of “In a Sentimental Mood” leaving me bawling as a child, almost incapable of comprehending the strong emotions leaving Coltrane’s horn and Mccoy Tyner’s piano. My identity comes from my love of writing and playing music. It serves as the background of all of my accomplishments and shortcomings. My love for composing music comes from my love of listening to it. I want to pursue music as my major, and specialize in composition to create more stories for myself and those who listen. Down the road artistically, I wish to pursue my masters degree as a versatile composer able to write for a variety of settings, groups, and even genres, whether it be music for New Media, a jazz big band, or a video game. Additionally I want to develop into a proficient performer, able to work in all kinds of live and studio settings, playing in gigs around and out of my area as a strong bandleader as well as a sideman. Furthermore, wanting to gain the tools to create a strong portfolio for mine and others’ artistic works as well as gain a new perspective in the compositional process, I want to become more acquainted with the production and electronic side of music. Finally, a personal artistic goal of mine is to gain more experience in the interdisciplinary aspects of music composition in writing pieces for different and new mediums of artistic expression. Pursuing a B.A. in Music from a college is incredibly important to me both personally and professionally, as attending will give me the skills and connections needed to succeed. I’ve already been accepted to my top 3 colleges; The Oberlin Conservatory of Music, The Eastman School of Music, as well as the John Hopkins Peabody Institute. However, I am unsure if I will be able to attend due to the cost. Coming from a single parent household, my family is unable to meet the cost of attendance. By receiving the Joe Bonamassa Music Studies Scholarship, I would be closer to having the resources to fund my aspirations and interest in music.