SLAJO stands for Salt Lake Alternative Jazz Orchestra. It was formed in 2002 by young musicians from the University of Utah's Jazz studies program. Functioning as not only a creative outlet, but also a breeding ground for emerging talent, SLAJO has [+]SLAJO stands for Salt Lake Alternative Jazz Orchestra. It was formed in 2002 by young musicians from the University of Utah's Jazz studies program. Functioning as not only a creative outlet, but also a breeding ground for emerging talent, SLAJO has forged a sound that is on the cutting edge of musical evolution. In an effort to connect with listeners of varied taste, SLAJO not only performs arrangements of Jazz classics and originals, but works by artists such as Nine Inch Nails, Nirvana, and Radiohead.
Beyond Big Band--Salt Lake Alternative Jazz Orchestra Takes Music to Another Level
By Luziano Marzulli Vargas
For most of us, the word jazz denotes something old, complicated and inaccessible-especially to those who listen to pop music and can't go more than three and a half minutes without a catchy hook or phrase to hold our dwindling attention. With their debut performance last Thursday night, the members of the 12-piece Salt Lake Alternative Jazz Orchestra (S.L.A.J.O.) dispelled the myth of jazz as only art music by filling the Urban Lounge with fresh compositions, blazing a trail into uncharted territory.
Dave Chisholm plays trumpet for the orchestra and described the inception of the group: "I was driving home from a lesson I had with Tully, my teacher, and I just thought, 'hey there's a bunch of players up at the [University of Utah] who are really good players.'" Chisholm's vision involved a lot of brass players for a really smokin' rhythm section, so he figured, "might as well use it. Once I told one of the players, [Marco Blackmore,] about it he kept buggin' me about it every day of class to write music for it. 'Did you write anything for S.L.A.J.O.? Did you write anything for S.L.A.J.O.?'" Chisholm said.
Over the winter break, with time away from classes, Chisholm was able to write the arrangements for most of his four original compositions as well as a new arrangement of John Coltrane's "Blue Train" and nine inch nails' Trent Reznor's "The Day the World Went Away."
"Maybe just myself I'm kind of sick and tired of jazz. So we just listen to stuff that's good music that's not like part of the jazz idiom," Chisholm said of the decision to write a jazz arrangement for a nine inch nails tune.
In addition to Chisholm's arrangements,
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