41 Posts
0 EP
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29 Years
Female
Civilian-Rank Quirk:
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Post by Asmodeus on Apr 29, 2019 6:08:39 GMT -4
| | Sometimes Paradise is just a bar away~ | | This one? This one she had been unable to pass on when it came to introductions, it was simply too tempting when the name of the performer had been given. Stepping onto the stage Asmodeus was more than ready to introduce the final great act of the first group for tonight. Now she thought about it, perhaps this one she could make a playful jab at a certain someone.
"And we're up to the final act of the first group of performers for the night~ We had quite an exciting run so far, didn't we? But we're far from done! Not only do we have those smooth lads left to give you all a ride you won't forget, but we still got a whole group left for the second part of the night!"
She raised a hand to her chin pondering softly. "Still I can't help but wonder why they were left last." Her gaze lifted up, seemingly straight into Delta's direction as she smirked mischievously. "For our last performance, we got a smooth jazz performance, brought by the talented The The Ashwood Company Quartet~ Now to find out whether the four of them together can be as smooth as a certain hostess~"
Yup, should had been pretty clear who that comment was aimed at! Especially when she winked at Delta's direction and proceeded to let the Quartet take the stage for the last grand performance of group 1!
Dear performer, this act is now in your hands!
- The performer will post after this introductory post, to begin their performance
- From there, they will give a window for spectators to post (i.e. 48 hours) after which the performer is expected to post again!
- This repeats until the performance is done!
- Dear performers, please, choose a posting window that suits your own posting habits
- And most importantly...
Have fun!
| +200 WORDS
NOTES 4 is a magical number~ |
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113 Posts
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Post by Graham Ashwood on Apr 30, 2019 9:00:54 GMT -4
Oh, this was terrific. Graham stood a few paces behind the odd horned woman giving their introduction, waiting with a smile broad across his face. Their performance would start in a bit as soon as the lady finished, which was taking a moment. He glanced back at the rest of the ensemble, his beloved crew. All hired specifically to look after and play jazz along with the young master in the years before, yet tonight would be the end of it all. Tomorrow evening they'd be flying back to the estate, leaving Graham to live in the UA dorms all on his own. Not that he'd let it drag down their performance. Speaking of which, they were expected to start now. The saxophone sitting on a chair next to Graham would be staying there for a moment, though, as he'd do an introduction of his own. He took a hold of the microphone, and here he went. "Good evening to all you, though with all the marvellous performances before us I'd hope we're all having a lovely night already." His tone was much softer than his usually more upbeat demeanour, trying to befit the musical show to follow. In fact, this was the cue for Gregory in the back to start playing, the short man with a head shining like a bowling ball beneath the spotlight taking to his keyboard, shortly followed by the other two. The equally short though paper-thin Sandra on the bass plucked away at the strings of an instrument taller than she could have hoped to be, though her playing wasn't affected by the cartilage in her spine whittling away of old age. Seamus was the youngest, only in his early forties, and by far the largest through sheer muscle. A beast of a man, though a gentle giant and a terrific cook. He'd not been around for as long as the other two either, but he'd found his way into Graham's heart quicker as well, due in part to his great performance on a drum set. And then there was the young man himself, perhaps standing out a bit from the rest, most notably in age. At least their dress was similar, all of them wearing a variation on a waistcoat over a white dress shirt. It was the most he could coordinate it on short notice but it would certainly do. The time for him to play wouldn't be until another minute or so had passed, giving him more time to speak. "Unfortunately this will be our quartet's final performance. The group will have been torn asunder after tomorrow, so one last lovely set of smooth jazz served to our even lovelier audience. Now then, I won't bore you with sentiment any longer." The greatest goal of music was to entertain, after all, and any more talking might work against that goal. With that, his saxophone was lifted from its premium seat and put to his mouth, and the song's first saxophone section was played out. He hoped the café crowd would enjoy his and his band's play, though he must admit the play was at least in part to soothe himself as well. (OOC: There'll be posting rounds of about 48 hours!) |
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244 Posts
2 EP
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16 Years
Female
"Pop Poet"
Student-Rank Quirk:
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Post by Farrah di Prima on Apr 30, 2019 22:47:26 GMT -4
Being young and unable to partake of alcohol (and too much of a good girl to fake a license), Farrah had not become drunk in the traditional sense. All the same, one could be forgiven for thinking she was a little tipsy, as she wandered from table to table between performances, spinning with one hand to her black beret and the other holding a sloshing diet coke. The performances so far had included everything from classics like saxaphone, piano, and guitar, to modern favorites, like a turntable and rap performances, which she'd had a pretty hard time resisting joining in on. All of this musical magic had her blood pumping, compelling her to get up and shake it out in the form of an energetic, twirling dance. As the next intro came on, she managed to contain herself to one table and stop her rotary motion, sipping her beverage with a wide smile and watching the stage behind dark sunglasses.
Smooth jazz had opened the night's performances, so it was only rational that it should bookend the group one events as well. This time, she found herself unfamiliar with the identity of the saxophonist, but his message resonated all the same: their final performance! Torn asunder! "What? What?! I want to know the story! Ah, he doesn't think I'd care, but I wouldn't find it boring! Why torn apart? Why must they split! Oh! There's a story and I want to hear it!" Farrah thought to herself wondering if the band would be playing a melody of loss and longing, something like the blues. Would they manage to keep it together in this, their final act?
As it turned out, her expectations were upturned; like the first jazz set, this one was silky smooth, but in contrast, this one was a bit of a toe-tapper. The down-tempo performance had been nice, but with a set like this, she found she settled right in, wagging one foot beneath her stool and snapping along where the cymbals allowed. She kept her voice down, whispering a poem that only she would hear, while she brought her notepad out from inside her overcoat and began scribbling. "Ah! Alas! Although now the band parts, I can see the fondness clear in their hearts! This is not a song of mourning, nay! Tis' celebratory, relaxed and gay! An evening with friends; a performance together! A friendship that's strong! A bond, unsevered!" she thought to herself, nearly tearing up at the thought. She'd look quite the sight, lifting her beatnik shades to dab at the corners of her blue eyes with the cuffs of her shirt-sleeves, while furiously writing with her free hand.
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WC 446
-Farrah dances until the intro begins. She takes a seat and settles in for some smooth jazz. Farrah interprets the tune as a celebration of the band's time together and takes notes. She is already overcome with emotion in the first set!
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Post by Hanako Hajimari on May 2, 2019 6:06:22 GMT -4
all the pieces lie where they fell... ♥ The last performance before the break would start. She bit her lip, considering while Asmodeus talked if she should leave after that or if she would listen to the last ones. It would not be fair to leave yet, not that she was sure if she knew any of the performers that would come after the break but Miku. She wasn't sure when she would come but she was here for her, so she would do that. She would sit this out, she would be fine, they all would be fine and enjoy this evening. The performance for the break was in the same style as the one that started, she was convinced now that she absolutely did not mind Jazz, soothing and happy. She was a bit surprised by the note that the band was stopping after this and stared at the performers one by one, were they going to elaborate or not? That was a heavy hitter for them to tell, especially cuz maybe they were not that famous so it would only surprise and make people wonder than downright upset, what to do with the information, it just felt a bit weird, their first and last performance at the same moment for Hanako. She hoped that they would at least play one more song this evening in that case, she was rather curious to hear more not only about them as a quartet but also the music they performed, what to write about it in her blog though. She frowned but tried to forget those worries for now and focus on the performance. |
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113 Posts
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Post by Graham Ashwood on May 2, 2019 18:57:25 GMT -4
The saxophone wasn't used all that much in the quartet's first song, but the section that did use it was a joy to play. The mixing time signatures were distracting sometimes but it did work, in Graham's own opinion at least. The melody was much more upbeat and had a higher tempo than a lot of other jazz, including the rest of this performance. It wasn't exactly smooth in that description - cool jazz to be precise - but who could give a darn. It wasn't something to be legitimately concerned about, exactly. He was tooting away at the instrument in his hands as he should be, without a care in the world, though that was admittedly a challenge. So far he was doing alright, and he could keep it up. The rest was doing fine too, by the sound of it, and a look back as his last part in the song came to an end saw them all absorbed in their play. As they should be, indeed. The end of the song got there eventually though, and as the piano's uppity tune faded out into nothingness, silence hung on the stage. So far so good, Graham thought to himself, and on to the next one! Perhaps he should have taken more care in preparing the setlist. This was a bit of a distinct tonal shift, to a noticeably more sombre, blues-y sort of deal. He could certainly say it was more on the smooth end now, at least. Well, they'd have to play it, particularly since Gregory had already started again on the keyboard. No additional speech this time, he'd have to let the music speak for him. This song did reflect his current mood better, he'd have to admit, and while the first part of the show was fun to play, the longer notes in this one were quite satisfying to pull off, he'd come to realize over the past. There was more for the saxophonist to actually play here as well, which couldn't ever be a negative if Graham were asked. So he put the mouthpiece back where it belonged, and got back to playing. |
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430 Posts
1 EP
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"Shooting Star"
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Post by Karen Hoshizora on May 4, 2019 4:26:34 GMT -4
 Tonight's performances had been quite a treat so far. In particular it was surprising to find so many UA students taking the stage. It was almost like this was an extracurricular school event. It was strange considering tonight's venue was a bar. Ordinarily, students shouldn't be even coming in here. It made her wonder if the owner herself had ties to the school. But this was nice. It wasn't often that she got the chance to enjoy watching school mates do things outside of the usual hero stuff so seeing them all display their musical prowess was both enlightening and interesting. Her ears would perk up once she heard the next set of performers being called upon. The Ashwood Company Quartet? Now Karen didn't know many Ashwoods in fact the only one she knew was a certain classmate in her own year and class. Graham was the very picture of a gentleman with a bit of ambition. He carried himself with pride and was polite in all of their interactions. Karen even had the pleasure of running against him in the class presidential race, that she ended up winning in the end. He was certainly a young man of many talents and seeing him step out on that stage tonight would tell her that this was yet another thing he was good at that she didn't previously know about. She was curious to see what kind of performance he had in store. Looking at the band setup and the other members of the quartet, it seemed like this would be another jazz group. Graham himself was on the saxophone much like Takumi was in the first performance. Unlike Takumi however, Graham's band had a bit more character and variety. At the very least they definitely not students or student age for that matter. They were supposedly a company quartet so Karen wondered if these were people who actually worked for Graham's family. The unusual introduction aside, Karen's first observation of their musical piece was that it was more on the playful side than smooth. This was good and served to differentiate themselves a bit from the other jazz performers. She also noticed that while the earlier numbers had a more distinct focus on the saxophone being the main player, here there was a more equal balance. Graham himself didn't have many sections to play at least for this first song. This struck her as a bit unusual as she had always seen him as someone who liked to take the lead when he could. She was seeing a different side of him tonight. Their second song for the evening had a noticeably different tone. It was a strange choice for a follow-up coming off the livelier piece. But at the same time, this song also seemed to have more sections for Graham to play. It still wasn't much of the lead role she was used to seeing him in, but the parts were powerful and did make him stand out a bit more. He was tied with the pianist at least. She was curious about what they would play next. So far he seemed to be enjoying himself and it was always a treat to see a classmate doing so well. Now she knew who she could approach in class should she ever need musical advice on anything. She was sure Graham would be very thorough about it too. At this point she had finished her drink and so called the attention of a waiter to ask for a refill. There were many more performances to go. This was certainly a good way to spend the evening thus far. Everything had been very different and very engaging.
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Post by Graham Ashwood on May 6, 2019 18:24:30 GMT -4
Graham played out the saxophone until the end of the song this time, drawing out a deep, soft note until silence occurred once again. And once again, he found himself questioning his decisionmaking, or lack thereof, in selecting the songs for tonight. Another more upbeat song was up as the penultimate performance of theirs, almost certainly confusing from the audience's perspective. This had only become clear to him as he was playing the songs, and why had none of the others said anything? As he looked back at them again they were looking at him, smiling, and he remembered he was meant to kick the next song off. Another fun song to play, and again one with more sax melody involved, as was demonstrated off the bat with a snappy little bit a few bars long before the real part started. As his fingers went along their keys and the notes came out of the thing in an order he liked, he finally took a good look around the audience. Graham had been quite self-absorbed the past few songs, perhaps it was time to take in the things around him. This didn't reveal much thrilling information, mainly folk kicked back to enjoy the music, appropriately so given the genre being played. A few familiar faces were more surprising, however, distinguishing some classmates and other UA students in the crowded bar. It was good to know there were some shared interests among the lot of them, he noted. It might just be a nice group of people to live with the next several years of his life, after all. Perhaps he should've been more open about going to this musical event, and have arranged to go along with a few of his classmates if they were already going. A great notation for future plans, he thought to himself, as the piano solo approached and he'd have a bit of a break. The piano solo was followed by a drum solo, and only after that would he get back into the song. Brubeck did tend to give himself a spotlight in his songs as a piano player, but the sax parts were so ruddy fun to play and lovely to listen to that he was certainly willing to look past it. |
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244 Posts
2 EP
EXP
Total
16 Years
Female
"Pop Poet"
Student-Rank Quirk:
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Post by Farrah di Prima on May 7, 2019 0:55:13 GMT -4
Graham's second song had a more familiar tone; it felt like one of the mellow, coffee-shop tunes that Takumi had favored. That was good by her; after all, these sorts of slow, pensive tracks were bread and butter for poetic types such as herself that wanted music they could speak over.
The room looked much as it had for Takumi's performance, but that wasn't a bad thing; it was good to see everyone sticking around. Being in an audience was like taking a voyage, and by the time it was over, you'd learned a thing or two about your fellow travelers, even if you hadn't had a chance to speak to them. "I should work that into my next poetry sets, to accompany my various other snippets," she mused, tapping her pen against her chin thoughtfully.
If the audience was riding a rollercoaster together, then it was ended in a surprising note, lifting back up into the air after a dip. Farrah could listen to the catchy, poppy tunes all day, and found herself snapping along with the drum-line, perhaps distractingly, or perhaps showing an enthusiasm for the subject matter. This close to the end of the first group, she couldn't help herself. She felt like it would be a betrayal of all that she stood for not to snap along with some of this jazz! Rocking her head this way and that, she made herself a spectacle, merrily drinking in the fondness that the band seemed to have for each other as well as their mastery of jazz, which was perceptible on a more surface level.
With this act nearly done, Farrah began to take measure of how her own poetry set and drum session would fit in to the night's festivities. She'd be pretty surprised if anyone was doing the same thing she was- such was half the point of being a beatnik mixed with a beatnik mixed with a hippy in the modern era- but she wondered if people would stick around for it, late as it was getting. Optimistically, she assured herself not only that they would, but that they would leave with the same sense of glee, and perhaps love of poetry, that she herself felt. She could only imagine that on stage, Graham was feeling much the same, in regards to his jazz.
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WC 389
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113 Posts
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Post by Graham Ashwood on May 10, 2019 19:29:10 GMT -4
As the large man on the drums finished the song, Graham did feel better about the situation he was in. They were simply putting out a proper lovely piece of music, nothing less than what they were meant to be doing. Just like old times, and recent times, practically any time since he'd first picked up the saxophone. Having his band backing him up was such a natural situation for the young man, he'd miss them tremendously without any shred of doubt. Thus, a final celebration was an absolute necessity, and he'd not let himself get downtrodden if only not to let down the rest. Yes, to leave the quartet's existence on a high note was the idea behind this in the first place, wasn't it? In that spirit, the next song would be the last they'd ever play. Along with that, the best song they'd ever play, of course! It was his personal favourite of their selection, after all, so with a smidgeon of luck, it theoretically could be.
The song's tone varied drastically from section to section, a part of what made it such a joy. The quick, energetic piano to open it was an example, followed quickly by his own equally fast and repetitive section on the sax. A call and response, if he was correct on that musical term, not something guaranteed. He knew how to play the saxophone, but anything beyond reading sheet music was just as far beyond Graham. He just liked to play music, that was all. In this case, he certainly got to. The song's tension built up, mellowed back out, stayed like that for a while, and it went on. All along this path, his play was supported by the rest of the cast, aside from showing off a bit in a sax solo before dropping off. Whether or not he could hold it out without them he truly wasn't sure, and nothing but time could tell in the end. A young lad completely alone in a new country, with a future plan, a steady flow of money, campus housing, plentiful opportunities for socializing... Suffice it to say, he wasn't quite doomed as soon as these three stepped on the plane. Still, it was a hurdle to step over- and goodness, he couldn't keep his mind off this for a moment, could he? |
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2,602 Posts
1 EP
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27 Years
Male
"G"
Watchdog-Rank Quirk:
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Post by G Hajimari on May 27, 2019 12:25:54 GMT -4
Well, he lost Hana, and Haruuhi also left his table. Miku didnt perform yet, so G was alone. He was sitting at the table and just ordered more booze. He was running out of pocket cash and didnt have much left anymore. But he had to drink. This music and performance that was played, G practically didnt hear it. His mind registered that as this as backround music while the actual people were prepping to perform. This kind of wassomething he'd hear in the background of bar levels in videogames. Yeah, he relegated this genre of music as background video game music. G looked at his wristwatch to see the time. How much until Miku performs? Little did he know she was the last performance.
He groaned a bit when he thought about that, he didnt wanna stay here for the entire music night. Just Miku and be done with it. He didnt care about if Hana saw him or not. He wasnt budging. G leaned on the table and sort of like hid his face behind his arms... its just kinda as if he used them as a pillow, he was tempted to close his eyes and just rest. But he was scared he'd fall asleep. He had to struggle and stay awake
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2019 19:38:12 GMT -4
Asmodeus has 2exp and gains 2exp
Graham has 312exp and gains 14exp
Farrah has 49exp and gains 7exp
Hanako has 889exp and gains 2exp
Karen has 380exp and gains 6exp
G has 1388exp and gains 2exp
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