[NewMusic] Marco Eneidi's Animal Farm

[Sarah - 21 Grand]

Jacob wrote:

1) Volume: Already addressed by others with whom I
agree.  Fewer drummers, less volume on the amps would
have helped, and of course less density.

I half expected
a fifth drummer to appear
for the second set

The list of personnel I received included 2 drummers, then at the 1st
rehearsal there was a third, then at the 2nd rehearsal there was a fourth.
To their merit, I think the bass players were pretty mindful of volume
during the performance, and speaking of group psychology and interactions,
the two less-experiences bass players were consistently looking to Damon and
George. 

I also noted that in the sax section there was attention paid to what the
other players were doing, and at one point saw Mr. Adams confer with
Elizabeth Torres and I forget who was sitting next to her before playing a
bit as a threesome.

Personally, I would have liked to hear fewer sax players and more of Jacob,
Aurora and Liz.  I had trouble hearing Aurora, even though she was mic-ed,
though I think it was because the speaker wasn't really facing the audience
and was sitting on the floor, rather than being elevated. She does win my
prize for best display of professional composure and awareness that while
she is not playing, the audience is still regarding her as a performer.

2) Direction: ... 
Relying on the self-conduction of a large ensemble is
I think a pipe-dream.

This was the big lesson I learned with the Womantis performance back in
June. 

Regarding Big Bands in general:
1) Numbers: 
I've often had the experience with a large group that
sounds great in rehearsal (the music gels, the balance
is good), then at the gig, another bunch of people
show up and ruin the whole balance.

As an audient that's also regularly privy to rehearsals I've noted this as
well.

At any rate, we've preserved the paper airplane of unknown origin for our
archives, though Darren would have been more impressed had its folder made a
sailboat instead.

sl