As Jazz Ensemble B filed onto the Jarman Auditorium stage Tuesday night, they were greeted by a full auditorium and loud applause from the audience.
Without any introduction, Jazz Ensemble B launched into their first tune entitled “Rachel is Bossa.” The piece featured a trumpet and bass melody for the first few measures before the saxophones stole the melody. Cody Leonard, on alto sax, then impressed the crowd with a smooth solo, which was then taken over by Joseph Drzemiecki on bass.
Ty Harkins followed the previous two soloists with an intense drum solo. Gradually, the rest of the ensemble took over the melody and brought their first piece to a close with one last staccato note.
Following the first piece was a popular number entitled, “Big Spender” that featured an improvised saxophone solo by Patrick Arnold at the beginning. The full band joined back in for a few accelerandos and a loud crescendo to end the piece with a bang.
Jazz Ensemble B’s third piece, “Greaze On Down The Road” featured a small group of Leonard and Arnold on saxophone, and Bethany Bauernfeind on trumpet. Also included in the piece was another saxophone solo by Leonard.
To end their portion of the concert, Jazz Ensemble B played a disco, “Pink Panther Remix” that featured amazing solos by Keith Baldwin, Leonard, Hugo Davalos, and Drzemiecki.
The piece included the popular Pink Panther theme, but played in different variations with the trumpets carrying the melody sometimes with a few saxophone interludes.
The piece was brought to a close by a slow decrescendo ending, as applause from the audience filled the auditorium. After a quick set change, Jazz Ensemble A entered the stage with a bang. The full band joined together for a bright introduction of their first piece entitled “Blues Dues.”
John Hogge followed this with a guitar solo that was interrupted by flashy high notes in the trumpets and quick running octaves in the saxophones.
Micheal Norwood came in with a baritone saxophone solo, which was followed by a trombone solo by Michael Velez and an alto saxophone solo by David Lawson.
Tyler Gage took over the melody with bright high notes in the trumpet. The band then came together for a final crescendo to end their first piece.
Following their first piece, Jazz Ensemble A continued on with a slower classic that was popular in the twenties, called “Bye Bye Blackbird.” That piece was followed up by an audience favorite entitled “High Maintenance.” It featured solos by Kristen Myers, Miguel Gavilan, and Lawson.
The audience was kept interested with multiple fast runs, solos from almost every instrument, and bright high notes from the trumpet line. The concert just kept getting better. For their fourth piece, Jazz Ensemble B brought out junior, Amanda Nazario to sing vocals for the piece entitled “Almost Like Being in Love.” The piece contained smooth, romantic vocals and a calming band accompaniment that was a nice variation from the other pieces.
This smooth feeling continued on into the next piece, a Latin piece entitled “Running of the Bulls.” Gage introduced the piece with a relaxing flugelhorn solo, with piano accompaniment. However, the tempo completely changed into a faster tempo with louder dynamics and full band participation. Jazz Ensemble A then continued through three more fast and flashy pieces before they ended the concert with one of their favorite pieces known as “Pick Up the Pieces.”
The conductor of the ensemble, Dr. Kinzer, described the piece as being a funk rock classic and it included solos by Gavilan on tenor saxophone and Spenser Smith on drums. Throughout the piece there were many dynamic and tempo changes that continued to keep the audience on their toes.
And finally the band came together to build up to a lively final note to end the concert. The audience erupted in applause for both Jazz Ensemble A and B and the concert seemed to be thoroughly enjoyed by every member of the large audience.
