UMS in the Classroom: Butler, Bernstein & the Hot 9

By UMS

Interested in using a UMS performance in your university classroom? For each performance on the season, we provide suggested curricular connections, links to contextual material online, citations for scholarly material, and prompts for classroom discussion. For additional resources and individualized curricular support, please contact Shannon Fitzsimons Moen, UMS Campus Engagement Specialist, at skfitz@umich.edu or (734) 764-3903.

UMS is also committed to making our performances an affordable part of the academic experience. Our Classroom Ticket Program provides $15 tickets to students and faculty for performances that are a course requirement. Please email umsclasstickets@umich.edu to set up a group order.

Connect:

This performance may connect meaningfully with courses in the following schools and disciplines:

• Afroamerican and African Studies
• American Culture
• Comparative Literature
• English Language and Literature
• History
• Sociology
• Composition
• Jazz & Contemporary Improvisiation
• Music Education
• Musicology
• Piano
• Strings
• Winds & Percussion
• Business
• Medicine
• Public Policy

Explore:

• Watch Bernstein, Butler and the Hot 9 collaborate on their latest recording.
• Learn more about New Orlean’s specific jazz style in A Trumpet Around the Corner: The Story of New Orleans Jazz (2008, University Press of Mississippi).

Reflect:

• This performance takes place in a non-traditional venue (a garden store and beer garden). How does this impact the way that you experience the performance? Did you notice other audience members behaving or engaging differently than they would at a concert in a traditional venue.
• Describe the onstage relationship between Bernstein, Butler and the other performers. How did they communicate with each other? Did anyone seem to be “leading” the performance? Did that change at different points in the concert?
• How would you describe the style of “New Orleans jazz”? How is it different from other kinds of jazz music you’ve heard? How do you think place impacts music, and how does music contribute to a sense of place?