Swingin’ in the ‘Moonglow’

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    Following The GCSU Jazz Band’s stellar performance at December’s sold-out Christmas concert, Todd Shiver and his lineup of musicians seemed poised to take their craft to the next level with the Spring concert. But, with "1940′s Swing, featuring the music of Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller," the band turned in a good, though not great, concert. Both             Goodman and Miller were honored with a set of seven tunes, not including encores, which highlighted the swing legends’ careers. Classics like "Moonlight Serenade," "Moonglow" and "Little Brown Jug" were preformed with expert precision by the band. To go along with the music, both Thursday and Friday night’s shows featured a variety of visual elements including a video of Goodman and Miller. Band members also provided a physical element as they hopped with the beat and swayed their instruments with the music. The highlight of Thursday’s performance came with the jazz band’s version of "Sing, Sing, Sing." Monique Williams demonstrated what drumming is all about as she thrashed her way into the spotlight of the piece. Her enthusiasm spread through the audience as she brought down the house. Also on Thursday night, the band’s version of "In the Mood," had an elderly couple literally dancing in the aisle. But the performance was not without its low points. The show could easily have been renamed "A Tribute to the Phillips," after vocalist and trumpet player Phillip Joiner and saxophone and clarinet player Phillip Gubser. While it makes sense that the concert would feature many solos by Gubser and his clarinet in a tribute to clarinetist Goodman, the overabundance of Joiner seemed out of place, especially considering that he is no longer a student at GCSU. After playing solo for fully half of the band’s numbers, Joiner again took center stage as the only male singer. He and fellow vocalist Laura Dees seemed flat during their rendition of "Chattanooga Choo Choo." Any charm and charisma that the pair shared in past concerts appeared to be absent this time around. Similarly, Dees’ lackluster performance of "At Last" left me longing for conviction from the songstress. Despite his showing in this concert, Joiner has established himself to be a very gifted musician. His performances of "Feeling Good" during the band’s previous two concerts proves as much. But in the case of this concert, Shiver may have asked too much of his go to guy. Hopefully next time around a few other trumpeters will step up to the task. But even with these few missteps, the overall concert was enjoyable. A great set list and some fabulous work by Daniel Seibel, Kyle Christmas and the rest of the saxophone section put this one on the plus side for the band.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Mar 16 2007. Filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry