jazz around UC campuses

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi everybody.
I' m an 18 year old french student in political science. I' ve been selected to study in one of the UCs next year and I have to choose three of them. I think I' m going to pick Berkeley and UCLA but I hesitate for the third one between UCSB and UCSD. I red all the posts about UCSB and UCSD but I wanted to learn more about jazz around this campuses (I mean not only the Music majors but also jazz clubs etc.) because I' m a kind of semi-profesional trumpet player. So:
- what about jazz around the UCs (specially UCSD and UCSB)?
- do you think an forreign undergraduate in politics would have enough time to practice jazz at least 2 hours a day ? (given that I don' t party and that I don' t mind having no other hobbies)</p>

<p>Thank you for answering.</p>

<p>Arno</p>

2

<p>I think you could work in two hours a day fairly easily, as long as you focus. Most people (me, for instance) seem to have trouble with time management because of a lack of focus.</p>

3

<p>Lots of jazz around Berkeley, including the Jazzschool, which offers classes, lots of clubs and restaurants with jazz in Berkeley, Oakland, and San Francisco, as well as jazz groups that perform on campus at Zellerbach Hall. So, opportunities to play on campus and off and to hear live music, on campus and off. There is also a full-time jazz radio station in the Bay Area, KCSM.</p>

<p>Lots of jazz to hear around UCLA. However, most of the ensembles and classes will be filled up by students who applied directly to the jazz program in the music department. (This is the top music performance program in the UCs and attracts top musicians.) So, you'd have to be really good to get a chance to get into one of those ensembles or classes. So, much good music to be heard, but playing opportunities might depend on how well you connect with other student musicians.</p>

<p>UCSD has been known to have a good music department, especially in computer and new music composition. You will probably get a chance to play and take classes there, even if you are not a music major. I know a kid who played jazz in high school and went there and loved it.</p>

<p>I don't know anything about the music scene at UCSB, but it's a much smaller city, so I would think the chances to hear live jazz would be much smaller.</p>

<p>So, for your third choice: I would guess that UCSD would give you more chances to hear and play jazz than UCSB.</p>

<p>I'd suggest you e-mail the music departments and, if you find online contacts for student music groups, those as well. The key question at universities as large as UCs is whether you need to be a music major in order to enroll in music classes. Beyond that, in terms of taking private lessons if you can afford them (and, you might take lessons from grad students, which would be cheaper) LA and Berkeley would probably give you the best opportunities. Again, I wouldn't expect a large community of jazz musicians live in Santa Barbara, which is pretty upscale.</p>

<p>Also -- you mentioned you don't party. UCSB has been known as the party campus, though they are trying to get beyond that reputation, while UCSD is probably the least-partying campus. In answer to your question, I think you will probably have no problem getting two hours a day of practice in if you don't need to have a job while at school here. That raises the issue of practice space, however, which is something else to think about when choosing a campus, or between a dorm and an apartment.</p>

4

<p>the jazz school (<a href="http://www.jazzschool.com/index.php%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.jazzschool.com/index.php&lt;/a&gt;) is in downtown berkeley, walking distance from campus</p>

5

<p>Don't rule UCSB out. It is a great location! I would check out the schools and email as suggested above.</p>

<p>The UCSB Jazz Ensemble is comprised entirely of full-time students at UCSB, both graduate and undergraduate, from such diverse disciplines as music, math, philosophy, and physics. During the past five years under Jon Nathan's direction, the band has performed at a variety of locations around campus, including the Chancellor's House, the UCEN's Hub, Storke Plaza, The Univeristy Art Museum, The Mulit-Cultural Center and the Annex. In past years, the band had as a guest artists bassist and UCSB music faculty member Nico Abondolo, trumpet sensation Jeff Elliott, vibraphonist John Magnussen, and Yellowjacket's bassist and co-founder Jimmy Haslip. In March of 2000, the ensemble was pleased to have as guest artist saxophonist Pete Christlieb, former member of the Tonight Show Orchestra and veteran studio musician. In Spring of 2001, the band hosted Chris Merz, composer/saxophonist, who is a faculty member in Jazz Studies at the University of Northern Iowa. More recently, the UCSB Jazz Ensemble invited trombonist Robin Eubanks (Winter, 2004), trumpet legend Bobby Shew (Winter, 2002) and alto saxophonist Kim Richmond (Winter, 2003) to share its stage.</p>

6

<p>I bow to your obviously superior knowledge of UCSB.</p>

7

<p>I think I' m going to follow your advices and e-mail the music departments to learn a little more. I don' t know if I could study into music majors, knowing that, in general, there is an audition and that my french institute of political science maybe wouldn' t appreciate it too much.
I feel like choosing UCSD over UCSB (even I' m sure I could have good time there too).
You mentionned the problem of daily practice - even if I' m a kind of soft trumpet player, a trumpet is indubitably loud. I also thought about another problem which is the problem of the driver' s license which would be useful to go jamming during the night. Knowing that I' m french, that I' m 18 and that I got my french driver's license, could I pass it in California? Nevermind if you don' t know, I can post this question in 'International students'.</p>

<p>Thank you all for your advices. Any other information about jazz music around the UCs would be really nice.</p>

8

<p>Just a thought- life without a drivers license is much easier (and cheaper) at Berkeley than at UCLA. You could make good friends with somebody with a car, but they might get annoyed after a while. Pluse the poli sci is better here :)</p>

<p>UCLA probably has practice rooms. At Berkeley, after 4 PM, any student can use the many practice rooms in the music building.</p>

<p>Which school do you go to?</p>

9

<p>My school is called the IEP (=Institute of Political Science) Bordeaux, which is generally named SciencesPo Bordeaux. In fact, there are nine IEP in France which are all very selective. There is a very competitive examination to enter them (something like 100 students out of 1500 can enter the first year). That' s a typical french system which can' t be compared to the anglo-saxon universities. </p>

<p>The most prestigious IEP is Paris (a lot of french politicians studied in it) but Bordeaux is also a very good one. There is a special agreement between the university system of Bordeaux and the University of California: some Californian students come to Bordeaux and, this year 13 Bordeaux' s students have been selected to have the academic year 2006-2007 in one of the UCs without paying the inscription fees.</p>

<p>If you want more precisions, just ask me.</p>

10

<p>You mentioned the problem of being too loud as a trumpet player? You might look into the Yamaha Silent Brass system. I wouldn't recommend it for regular practice because of the added backpressure, but you might consider it for quick 30-45 minute woodsheding in your room.</p>

11

<p>In fact, I already have this Yamaha silent brass but never use it, even if I live in an apartment. I have a sort of personal 'silent system'. Basically, I put my horn in a little trash can (made of leather) in which I put a towel to deaden the noise.
I' m not sure if my explanation was very clear but with my system, I don' t feel this backpressure which is really problematic. But it' s still louder than with the mute...</p>

<p>Arno</p>