Jazz Band makes students’ heads bop to the beat

The Georgia College Jazz Band premiered its fall concert, Swing, on Thursday, Nov. 3, in Russell Auditorium, which was followed by a second performance on Friday, Nov. 4.

In the past, the fall concert was performed for only one night, which resulted in a sold-out show. This time around “Swing”  was performed for two nights with hopes that more people could attend.

“Our goal was to take the listeners back to what the 30s and 40s were like,” Director of Swing  Cliff Towner said. “I think the band played well. The soloists really shined. My favorite part was watching the band’s instant creativity. No matter what you do in rehearsal performances are always different.”

Katie LeVan | gcsunade.com

The second half opened with “Sir Duke,” a tune by Stevie Wonder that is written in tribute to Duke Ellington.

“I really like contrast or connections,” Towner said. “We’ll do an up-tempo tune and then a ballad.”

The Jazz Band is made up of saxophone, trombone and trumpet players, as well as a rhythm section which includes bass, trap and piano.

“I have a really young rhythm section, two sophomores and one freshman. Two out of the three are new to Jazz Band,” Towner said. “I’ve been pleased with their cohesiveness considering their age.”

There were also two vocalists who performed. Chassity Nobles lent her vocals during “Blue Skies” and Erlencia Mumphrey belted beautiful lyrics during “Orange Colored Sky.”

This was Towner’s first year directing the GC Jazz Band, which put on an excellent performance that was “high energy and fun,” according to senior music composition major and lead tenor TJ Brown.

Although this was Towner’s first year directing the GC Jazz Band, he had years of experience with jazz music. “I directed jazz music at my previous job and I had a jazz band for seven to eight years,” Towner said.

Preparations for Swing began last summer.

“In the summer I chose the literature, I selected 14 to 15 tunes. Once school started I held auditions for the band,” Towner said. “The Jazz Band is a course. We meet twice a week for an hour and 15 minutes each class.”

The Jazz Band had its first full rehearsal on Aug. 23.

“I think we sounded really good, and full and jazzy. It’s like any concert. You go to listen and have a good time,” said senior biology major and trumpet player Tyler Pederson. “I like seeing the reactions of the audience. I like to see them smile and have a good time. Without an audience we’d just be playing like we do in class. After putting in months of hard work it’s good to have feedback.”

The audience gave great feedback with two standing ovations and continuous applause throughout the concert. Erica Buchhammer, a junior music therapy major and audience member, says she really enjoyed the performance and the songs that they Jazz Band played.

“I like to listen to music, especially live. It’s much better when you listen to it live,” Buchhammer said. “It’s nice to hear a different genre. I listen to classical all the time, as a violinist. I thought the concert was entertaining, it had such a swinging feel.”

The energy and tunes from Swing created a time warp for the audience.

“It’s a way to experience American history through music,” Brown said.

The Jazz Band’s next performance and spring concert will be held March 1 and 2 in Russell Auditorium.

Posted by Katie LeVan on Nov 10 2011. Filed under Features, Lead stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.