Extended Writing Practice 4 (March 2019, IGCSE FLE)

 

Passage

The Nightblooming Jazzmen

 

The narrator has successfully auditioned for the job of drummer in a small jazz band. He has been invited to play with the band at their next ‘gig’. This concert will be the last of a series of open-air summer concerts in a local park. The existing members of this jazz band first played together in a bigger band after they had retired.

 

The dudes are severely elderly, these Nightblooming Jazzmen. They wear white belts and bow ties, trousers pulled up high.

 

‘Our angle is we’re old,’ they say. ‘You’ll have to dress the part if you’re going to be our pulse, drumbo.’ A couple of them have serious moustaches. I paste one on for the gig, bleach my eyebrows and pop on a straw hat.

 

They have the coolest names: Clyde, Chet, Wally and Hal. When I say my name is Nathanial, they say, ‘You can’t use a name like that.’

 

After my audition, Clyde comes over as I’m packing up my drums. Grinning, he says I’ve got the job, but from now on they’ll call me Old Stanley.

 

***

 

The gig’s in a park. The bandstand is covered with graffiti. A crowd of old people and a few of their grandkids look on from folding chairs.

 

Clyde puffs ‘Good afternoon’ into the microphone and we’re off and running. We cook up a carousel of sound with our hands, with the wind in our chests. A gang of senior citizens – and me – just tearing up the place. Chet is coaxing sad wah-wahs out of his trombone. Clyde noodles out golden lassos on the clarinet. Wally burps wetly along on the tuba. We stir up a flock of audience jazz-hands, playing music no one plays any more, stuff I learned from my dad. The sun tilts through the trees, spot-lighting shafts of dust. We’re just a speck in the grand whirling scheme, but at least we’re making noise. We close the set like landing a plane, bouncing along a little then rolling to a stop.

 

Give these guys their due – that gig was pretty sweet.

 

Hal, breathing heavily, comes over. ‘Great job,’ he says. ‘You can swing. How’d you learn?’

 

‘My dad,’ I explain.

 

‘Did he play?’

 

‘Yeah.’ That’s all I say.

 

Hal talks more at the after-show party. ‘We were a big band. Guys gradually dropped off though …’

 

They tried rolling with it, calling themselves The Littlest Big-Band, but couldn’t draw a crowd. So Clyde, who’s basically the leader, said they’d play jazz – did anyone have a problem with that? One guy – the drummer – walked out.

 

‘You’re good kid,’ Hal says patting me hard on the back, like he’s burping a baby.

 

The women organising the party have laid out a great spread: crackers, some kind of creamy dip, cheese, grapes and peanuts. I start attacking the snacks.

 

Hal says, ‘Easy, Stanley.’

 

The women gather up and introduce themselves. They have candy-floss hair, neatly knitted cardigans and foggy eyes. There’s more than one brooch and bracelets all around, so they jangle when they move. They deliver their names like they’re performing a song. Ruth and Nancy are sisters. Betty is an old friend. Great names, I say. Crumbs fly from my mouth. Clyde gives me a look.

 

The women love our music. So many of the summer concerts are such disappointments, they say.

 

Ruth recalls a terrible rap act. They all shudder and look to me, expecting an opinion. ‘Rap sucks,’ I say reaching for more cheese.

 

‘You have most unusual eyebrows,’ Nancy says.

 

‘Goes better with the moustache,’ I say.

 

Everyone laughs because, at the moment, my silvery fringe moustache is curled up on the dashboard of my car.

 

‘How’s that for commitment?’ Clyde smiles. ‘The kid gets hired and goes the extra mile to fit in.’ I feel like I’m eight years old – a little kid with a whole army of grandparents.

 

The party chugs forward, with some of the guys playing their horns, Wally’s stories of wars and Chet coming West to pick citrus.

 

They start dancing to records.

 

‘Why don’t you dance?’ Wally asks, watching Chet dancing with Betty.

 

‘I don’t know how to dance to this music,’ I say, making my excuses and leave.

 

Looking back from my car, I watch them, silhouettes jitterbugging, framed in the rosy window. The music’s faint, but I tap along. They’re laughing in waves, warbling harmonies. Why couldn’t I have met them a long time ago? But they didn’t exist then as they are now, I know. They look like a movie flashed on a wall, hanging in space with no connection to time. It seems impossible that I stepped out from it, or that I could get back in. It’s like a soap bubble you try to put in your pocket.

 

The song ends. Everyone shouts, ‘More!’

 

That’s all I need to be called back. I press on the moustache

 

Question

 

 

You are a journalist writing an article for a monthly music magazine. You were at the gig in the park, and at the party afterwards, and interviewed band members and some of their audience.

 

Write your magazine article.

 

In your magazine article, you should:

•        explain who the band are, their style, and the history of the band

 

•        describe the concert, audience reaction and the aftershow party

•        introduce Stanley and consider how he fits in with the band.

 

Base your article on what you have read in Passage A, but be careful to use your own words.

 

Address each of the three bullet points.

 

Begin your article: ‘This month’s featured concert …’ Write about 250 to 350 words.

 

Suggested Responses

 

 

A1: who the band are, their style and the history of the band

 

Answers	Supporting Details	Development
Old / retired	formed group late in life; (now) The Nightblooming Jazzmen	popular with women - charmers / handsome; (Little Big Band members) lost interest / died
Moved to playing jazz	previous drummer objected to the move	attempt to be more popular
Image	white belts, trousers pulled-up high, bow ties, serious moustaches, cool names	retro, old- style fashion, clichéd (jazz) image, out of date / quaint
Skilled musicians	mic only, no special effects or reliance on technical equipment e.g. synthesisers, backing tracks, lighting or screens	stripped back, honest, authentic, haunting sound
Clyde	the leader / plays clarinet	argued with the previous drummer, can be stern
Chet	plays trombone / picked citrus	popular with female fans – charmer / handsome
Wally	plays tuba / tells war stories	experience of war(s)]
Hal talks more than the others	out of breath	puts lots of energy into his performance / not fit / unwell, friendly, chatty

 

 

 

A2: concert, audience reaction and the aftershow party

 

Answers	Supporting Details	Development
Outdoor venue	bandstand, graffiti, local park	old-fashioned, shabby, rundown
Summer / daytime		regular event each summer
Crowd of mainly old people	some brought/with their grandchildren	trying to influence younger generation to enjoy this style of music / looking after grandchildren for the afternoon; loyal audience / popular with this age group / just happen to be in the park
Positive reception (to concert)	jazz hands, music ‘no one plays anymore’, women loved the music	nostalgia, better received than other artists who have played there e.g. rap artist
Women / fans organise the after show party	Ruth, Nancy, Betty	band enjoy spending time with their audience]
Lively atmosphere (of party)	dancing to records, playing horns	recapturing youth, nostalgia

 

 

A3: Stanley and how he fits in with the band.

Answers	Supporting Details	Development
Stage name	Old Stanley changed name from) Nathanial	humorous
Musical ability	Hal says he’s a good drummer, learned skills from his father	famous father / father an accomplished (jazz) musician]
Appearance	younger, wearing a false moustache, bleached	prepared to make an effort to fit in, other band; members appreciate it
Manners	talks with his mouth full, does not wait to be invited to eat, speaks his mind e.g. great names	contrast with older generation of band members; needs reminding / accepts guidance from them
Current relationship with other band member(s)	Clyde smiles, Clyde gives him a look, with Hal at the party	enjoys same music they do / can never be part of it or really fit in
Future of Stanley in band negative	other band members are old and may not want / be able to continue	difficult to get gigs as not mainstream popular music
Future of Stanley in band positive	sticks moustache back on stays for party	enjoys atmosphere, following in father’s footsteps / part of a revival of interest in jazz music]