The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center’s Dekelboum Concert Hall overflowed with harmony and rhythm Monday night during the Fall Big Band Showcase.
Presented by the University of Maryland music school, the showcase included performances by three jazz ensembles: University Jazz Band, Jazz Lab Band and Jazz Ensemble.
As students and visitors entered the concert hall, a projector above the stage displayed fun facts about the night’s music selection and the music school.
“I’m here to listen to some good jazz,” sophomore supply chain management major Elliot McNeal said before the concert. “I had some free time tonight, so just trying to relax after a stressful semester.”
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The night’s theme was “The Basics of Basie,” a reference to the life and music of Count Basie. The bandleader’s music and leadership were pivotal in making big band jazz into what it is today. His ensemble, the Count Basie Orchestra, carries on his legacy.
“We just wanted to bring it back to the basics with Basie,” said Gio Hidalgo, a freshman jazz studies major and percussionist for Jazz Lab Band. “Most of the tunes were either written by Count Basie, written for Count Basie or written for his orchestra.”
University Jazz Band, an ensemble mainly made up of non-music majors, opened the showcase. Musicians began with the standard “In a Mellow Tone,” composed by Duke Ellington and arranged by Mark Taylor. The song’s smooth melody began in the saxophone section before transferring to the back row trumpets, which joined the saxes in a calland-response style.
Student musicians relied on one another and the steady rhythm section — guitars, keys, drums and bass — to stay in one piece. Ensemble leaders played only a supporting role in the performances, clapping along to the rhythm and occasionally signaling to players.
Bringing together the ensemble is a lengthy process. Jamie Pankratz, a freshman majoring in aerospace engineering and jazz studies who plays alto in the Lab Band, said rehearsals begin by selecting potential charts and sight-reading. Students then learn their own parts before coming together as a group.
Student instrumentalists in each ensemble showcased their musical talent through improvised solos within the written pieces.
Jazz Lab Band, comprised of both music and non-music majors, featured several soloists in their six pieces. The third song, “Don’t Git Sassy” by Thad Jones, included a tenor saxophone solo that could only be described as exceptionally stanky.
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The night’s final instrumental group, the Jazz Ensemble, featured solos by talented professional musicians affiliated with the Count Basie Orchestra.
Senior Master Sgt. Grant Langford, a former member of the orchestra, played an amazing solo on the saxophone.
Clarence Banks, longtime trombonist for Basie’s orchestra, performed a creative solo in the song “I Need to Be Bee’d With” with the help of a trombone mute.
For percussionist Hidalgo, the emotions of the music, both in the audience and on stage, were paramount.
“I was literally smiling the entire time,” Hidalgo said “That’s super important when it comes to big band jazz, just having it feel good. And I think we did a pretty good job today.”
