The Shadow Ridge Jazz Band recently performed at the CCSD Jazz Festival and showcased junior Kylan Carlos, whose performance left a lasting impact on the audience. For the band, they played three tunes: “Backburner” arranged by Carmine Poster, “Misty” arranged by Quincy Jones, and “Sticks” arranged by Julian Adderley. The first tune they played, Carlos who’s an alto-saxophonist, soloed over a high-energy, fast-paced composition with great control. The upbeat tempo allowed him to fully express himself and just have fun on the stage which really engaged the crowd.
While he is very good at improvisation as well as just soloing in general, it didn’t come easy to him at first. In order to get better he’s practiced on a daily basis and frequently watches other professionals solo the same song or close to it. By doing that, he is able to gain inspiration and ideas on how to improve his style. He also makes sure that he is familiar with the chord changes and the chord tones, although a lot of his playing is just playing by ear and picturing all that he wants to play.
A big influence of his is Patrick Bartley, who he considers to be one of the best players in this era. With the amount of times he’s soloed for big audiences, the nerves tend to go away once he starts playing because he can feed off of the audience’s energy.
The performance for the band went really well, as they were awarded with superior scores but for the soloing aspect of it, there were some challenges in the beginning.
Carlos stated, “The most difficult part for me was keeping time at some serious sections of the music, so I made sure to always be using my ears to listen to the people around me and listen for the drummer keeping time.”
Something that has also helped him grow as a musician is the amount and the types of music he’s been exposed to within their band program. Sight reading a bunch of pieces helps not just soloists, but the other band members catch on to different playing styles and music they aren’t as familiar with.
Aside from his most recent performance, the program has really had an impact on his development over the last three years.
He stated, “After being in the program for three years, I’m much more comfortable expressing myself and not being afraid to step out of my comfort zone.”
There’s been a lot of trial and error when it comes to Carlos doing improvisation but he believes that confidence is the most important thing when it comes down to a successful performance.
Carlos stated, “Confidence is key. It honestly doesn’t matter what you play as long as you’re confident and not afraid of making mistakes.”
His immense dedication towards the program has allowed him to become a better musician and he hopes to continue to excel as his final year in the program is approaching. `
