Ashley
Wey
The Blue Bosses
Adult Educational Jazz Ensemble
Whether you're a guitarist, bass player, pianist, saxophonist, clarinetist, brass player, or percussionist, Ashley Wey wants you for this ensemble! Develop your musicianship by performing an eclectic repertoire drawn from the rich history of jazz.
Time signatures, rhythm, and chord and scale theory are discussed in relation to each piece the group studies, but the bulk of class time is spent performing and learning how to solo and have a chance to be the band leader.
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The Small Band Jazz ensemble is designed for high-level hobby performers who are focused on their development as jazz instrumentalists. This ensemble will perform a wide range of jazz styles, including swing, bebop, free, avant-garde, and contemporary. Students will gain ensemble experience through weekly performances that focus on group interaction, swinging, dynamics, phrasing, and individual and group improvisation. Emphasis will be given to hearing and expressing your musical ideas with stylistic integrity and melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic accuracy.
MORE INFORMATION:
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Full Ensemble: Wednesday Evening 6:30-8:30 pm
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Additional/ Supplementary Learning: Sunday Afternoon 1:30 - 3:30 pm
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Instructor: Ashley Wey
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Discipline: Bass, Electric Guitar, Drum Set, Brass (Trombone, Trumpet), Saxophones, Guitar, Percussion, Piano, Double Bass, and Drums.
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Course Type: Small Ensemble
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Student Type: Adults
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Difficulty: Intermediate, Advanced
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Prerequisites:
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The ability to play scales in multiple keys (e.g. C Major, E flat Major, A Major, and B flat Major) and to read through lead sheets (e.g. a jazz tune like Blue Monk out of a Fake Book). Piano players should be able to voice chords with notation (e.g. knowing that a C Major 7 chord contains the notes C,E,G, B without those four notes notated), and guitarists should be able to play movable chord shapes for common jazz chords such as Dmin7, G7, CMaj7, Amin7b5. Students need not be experienced improvisers. This course aims to develop the instinct within the performer. Ensembles are put together depending on experience, age, and interests.
Audition Process:
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Students will have an interview with the instructor either by phone, email, or in person to determine placement followed by an audition. Sunday (afternoons) and Wednesday (evening) groups scheduled by instructor in consultation with registered students.
If you are interested in joining, please contact instructor Ashley Wey at ashleyweybooking@gmail.com
Available for Private Lessons
Ashley has played piano since she was five years old and professionally performed since she was fifteen. Since graduating from Humber College with a triple major in Jazz Performance, Arranging, and composition, Ashley has gone on to educate, as well as perform and tour, with a star-studded list of musicians and entertainers around the world.
While living in Toronto for ten years, Ashley Wey taught at various schools of music where she combined all of her influences, experiences, infectious joy, and passion for the music to students of all ages. Ashley has spent most of her teaching career focusing on piano and guiding small/large ensembles, as well as teaching music theory, harmony, arranging, and composition classes.
Her passion is educating and inspiring the next generation of aspiring young musicians and is currently working with the UJAM program working with Middle School and High School Students as a mentor.
