Listen & Celebrate Key Stage 3

Cassie Kinoshi WAKE (

for Grenfell)

CASSIE KINOSHI: born in Welwyn Garden City, England, 1993

Genre/style: Contemporary big band jazz.

Piece: WAKE (for Grenfell) is a jazz track with blues and New Orleans influences, performed by SEED Ensemble and released on the album Driftglass in 2019.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Cassie Kinoshi is an award-winning and internationally renowned composer, saxophonist and vocalist. She has collaborated with ensembles such as the Chineke! Orchestra, and has had music commissioned by the London Sinfonietta and BalletBoyz.

• Her album Driftglass was released in 2019 and was nominated for a Mercury Prize in the same year.

• She founded the mixed vocal and instrumental jazz ensemble seed. (formerly known as SEED Ensemble) who are playing on this track along with Cassie herself on saxophone.

• In 2019, she won an Ivors Academy Award for her composition Afronaut, which also appears on the Driftglass album.

WAKE (For Grenfell) was written to commemorate the lives lost in the Grenfell tower fire in West London in 2017. The piece uses words from the poem Wake, written by the African-American poet Langston Hughes. The recording is sung by the 2019 Jazz FM Vocalist of the year Cherise Adams-Burnett.

Points for discussion

• The lyrics, which repeat multiple times throughout, speak of the senseless nature of the tragedy, and the blues inflected lead vocal fall slightly behind the beat, which increases the sense of mourning and despair.

• The piece opens with foot stamps on each crotchet, with a solo alto saxophone played by Cassie Kinoshi herself.

• The bass riff (starting at 0:54) centres the piece in B b minor.

• The whole piece is essentially a repeated four bar pattern which is broken up with various arranging techniques, improvised solos and textures.

• The texture of the horn section changes throughout, e.g. from 1:32 the horn section plays the melody in unison; from 2:25 the main melody is played by one half of the band, while the other echoes it, interspersed with short solos by the alto saxophone and trombone.

• The lead vocalist uses various vocal techniques, e.g. a portamento between Ab and B b at 1:56, a scat solo from 3:01 and vibrato throughout.

• This track is per formed by lead vocalist (Cherise AdamsBurnett), backing vocals, piano, double bass, drum kit, horn section (trumpet, trombone, tuba, saxophones).

• How does the solo introduction give an indication to what the piece will be?

• Read about the Grenfell disaster. How effective is this piece in communicating feelings about this tragedy?

• How can music be used to start conversations or comment on issues in society?

FURTHER LISTENING

• Afronaut by Cassie Kinoshi, performed by SEED Ensemble (feat. XANA) – a contemporary big band track from the album Driftglass which features the spoken word artist and singer XANA, influenced by the writer Samuel R. Delany.

• Blue Lou by The International Sweethearts of Rhythm – an uptempo big band piece played by the first integrated big band featuring all women in the USA, released on a compilation album in 2013.

• Ulalume by Buddy Morrow (feat. Keith McKenna) – a big band ballad named after the sorrowful poem of the same name by the poet Edgar Allan Poe, released in 1960.

CASSIE KINOSHI WAKE (FOR GRENFELL)

ACTIVE LISTENING

Listen and discuss

Before listening, outline what happened at Grenfell tower in 2017 (see Information sheet in online resources).

1. Instrumentation

Play the track to 3:01. Pupils note down any instruments they can identify and how they are being played. (A listening sheet is available in the online resources.)

Draw out through discussion that the group is a jazz ensemble comprising rhythmsection (piano, double bass and drum kit), horn section (trumpet, trombones and saxophones) and vocalists and that improvisation is a key feature of the music (e.g. vocalist at 1:33; horn section at 2:26; piano at 2:26).

2. Vocal style and lyrics

The lyrics are from the poem Wake by Langston Hughes. Listen again to 2:07. Pupils write down words they hear. Drawing on the information about the tragedy, why do they think the composer was drawn to these words?

Explore

1. Learn to sing the chorus melody

Explain that the melody for WAKE has been created from just five notes: B D E G A. (Transposed so that it is a more suitable range for pupils’ voices.)

• Teach the first line of the chorus (from 0:30), starting on the note G. Sing the melody for the class to copy using the song lyrics or wordless syllables, e.g. ‘do’ or ‘da’, and mark the pitch shape using your hand.

• Teach the second line (from 0:37) in the same way, starting on A.

• Put the two lines together, then add the foot stamps.

2. Explore scat singing

Watch the Introduction to scat singing videos (online resources). Discuss how the singer emulates different instruments using her voice. If time, watch some of the Jazzmeia Horn video. Together draw up a list on the whiteboard of syllables for use in scat singing.

Form a circle and clap a steady beat (or use the backing track in online resources). Starting with the same five pitches as the WAKE melody, demonstrate simple scat-singing over four beats, then extending to eight. You may wish to use the examples opposite.

Invite individuals to take turns improvising scat. (Ensure you set up some rules at the outset so pupils feel they are in a safe space for trying out ideas.)

How are the voices used in the track? (E.g. low-pitched voices reflect the sombre subject matter; improvised sections in keeping with the jazz style.)

Continue listening to 3:33. Notice the scat singing (3:01–3:33). Explain that scat singing is an improvised technique using wordless syllables. Watch Ella Fitzgerald singing scat (online resources).

3. Atmosphere and mood

Display the Atmosphere words (online resources). Pupils choose two adjectives to describe the atmosphere created in this music. Discuss their choices and how the music reflects them (e.g. texture has overlapping lines/ imitation; melody has sustained notes and semitone movement; dissonance/clashing notes in the harmony…). Listen to an extract, e.g. 2:08–4:18. How is a sense of loss and despair created in the music? (E.g. minor key; low-pitched voices; narrow pitch range and repeated pitches in main melody.)

3. Explore Improvisation

Watch the performance of Cassie Kinoshi performing WAKE with seed. (see online resources). Discuss any differences they notice from the audio (e.g. no lead vocalist or opening saxophone solo).

Watch some of the instrumental improvisations (e.g. trombone at 2:19; double bass at 2:55). Explain that jazz performances vary according to the instruments available and often the mood of the musicians on the day. (If time, watch the interview with Cassie Kinoshi –see online resources.)

Invite pupils to practise improvising over the backing track in online resources on keyboards or any jazz instruments they play (e.g. trumpet, trombone, guitar, saxophone). Suggest they use the notes from the chorus (B D E G A). (Support pupils to transpose these notes into the relevant key for their instrument. Display or print out the notes from online resources, if needed.)

COMPOSING

Improvise vocally and/or instrumentally in a ‘jam session’. To include:

• Exploration of improvisation techniques (e.g. scat-singing).

• Alternating sections of a learnt/composed melody with improvisation.

Pupils explore improvisation as part of a group and have the opportunity to compose a new melody, inspired by WAKE. They may wish to use the Composition planning sheet (online resources) to record their ideas.

1. Compose or learn a melody by ear and practise playing it

Remind the pupils of the WAKE melody by singing it together as you did in Explore (using notes B D E G A –first phrase starting on G; second phrase on A).

Start by working in pairs. Give pupils the option of singing the WAKE melody or working out how to play it on a keyboard or other instruments by ear, or creating their own melody of a similar length, using the same set of notes to sing or play. (The notes are shown for different instruments in the online resources, as used in Explore.)

Pupils practise singing/playing their chosen melody until they are confident with it.

2. Explore improvising with their melody

Once they are familiar with their melody, encourage them to take turns practising improvising: one pupil could sing/ play the melody followed by the second pupil improvising, then swap over. Encourage pupils who play jazz instruments to improvise using these; other pupils may use keyboards or voices.

Suggest they improvise short motifs to repeat, explore different octaves, repeating pitches and trying rhythmic patterns.

If possible, allow each pair the opportunity to practise playing/singing over the backing track.

ASSESSMENT

• When listening, can pupils identify instruments and describe key musical features?

• Can pupils improvise vocally or on instruments using a given note set, exploring rhythmic shapes and a wide pitch range?

3. Jam session

Put two pupil pairs together to form groups of four. First get the whole group to play/sing (or combination) the WAKE melody together for them to get used to playing as a group. Then pupils can explore different options, e.g.

• Choose one pupil’s melody or alternate two.

• Play over the backing track or choose their own backing to play over.

Invite pupils to write down their ideas on the planning sheet.

Once they are happy with their ideas, they can improvise and then alternate the melody with improvised sections.

Jazz scat backing (see online

resources)

Taking it further

• Choose a poem (see suggested links in online resources for inspiration) and write a simple melody reflecting the mood of the lyrics.

• Create a different note set, find a backing track online and compose a new melody to improvise with.

CASSIE KINOSHI

WAKE ( FOR GRENFELL )

Online resources

HOW TO FIND THE AUDIO

AUDIO AND VIDEO FOLDER

Visit the audio and video folder to play this audio: Jazz scat backing

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RESOURCES Listening sheet

1. Instrumentation

Write down any instruments you can hear and describe what they are playing:

Instrument Description

2. Vocal style and lyrics

Write down any words/phrases you can hear in the vocal part:

Why do you think the composer was drawn to these words?

RESOURCES

Composition planning sheet

Compose or learn a melody by ear

Below are the notes used for the WAKE melody:

If you are composing your own melody, write your ideas below: