Our most recent Music@Ardingly event featured the Brass Funkeys, a funk/jazz/blues cross-over group with a busy schedule taking them to festivals all over the UK and Europe including the likes of Glastonbury. 60 of our saxophone and brass music students, split into prep and senior, had the awesome opportunity of workshops with members of the group.
The students learned about blues harmony and rhythm, and best of all, how to improvise. The Brass Funkeys then performed to a sold-out crowd later that night, joined by the students performing their improvisations. Music of every genre from “When the Saints to “Seven Nation Army” was performed, the audience involuntarily tapping feet or, when called for, standing up and doing appropriate dance moves.
Smiles never left the students’ faces. What a blast. We look forward to the next time the Brass Funkeys come to visit.
