Two of the University of Rhode Island’s jazz ensembles performed in “Jazz Combo III” this past Thursday in the Fine Arts Center.
The performances consisted of ensembles John’s Kitchen, directed by John McKenna, and the URI Standards Combo, directed by Dave Zinno.
John’s Kitchen is an all male student octet, featuring Jude LaRoche and Garrett Newhall on tenor saxophone, David Canavan on trombone, Eric Fay-Wolfe on piano, Collin Klampert on guitar, Carlton Fisher on bass, Matt Ippolito on drums and Louis Shriber on vocals.
“Harmonically they’re all very different tunes,” McKenna said. “The chord changes work differently, so there’s a contrast, and the tempos are different.”
McKenna’s ensemble’s performances consisted of three compositions, where this contrast he described was shown in each piece’s varying style and sound. McKenna described the first piece, “Punjab,” written by Joe Henderson, as “faster,” “swinger” and more “uptempo.” This was in direct contrast to the composition that followed, “Fall” by Wayne Shorter, which was very slow and emotional. The ensemble concluded with a dish written by McKenna himself, “Raccoulia .”
“The way I like to rehearse is not just to plan for a concert the whole time,” McKenna said. “I enjoy a kind of a jazz workshop environment in some of my rehearsals.”
John’s Kitchen only began working in their octet at the start of the semester, although some members had worked together under McKenna previously. Their name was created by the ensemble’s drummer, Ippolito, as a metaphor for their music together as “cooking in the kitchen.”
The URI Standards Combo followed the performances of John’s Kitchen, whose student ensemble consisted of all third-year students: Fernando Marzan on tenor saxophone, Luiz Nunez on trombone, Mason Tucker on piano, Aiden Rogler on guitar, Wyatt Crosby on bass, Andrew Dyson on drums and Ricki Rizzo on vocals.
Zinno’s combo performed four pieces which, similarly to McKenna’s chosen compositions, contrasted each other heavily and allowed for different performers to be highlighted. These pieces consisted of Wayne Shorter’s “Black Nile ,” Hoagy Charmichael’s “Skylark,” Paul Nagel’s “Seventh Hour” and Hank Mobley’s “This I Dig of You.”
“What we try to do with these programs is to introduce the students to different styles of jazz,” Zinno said. “There’s so many different styles that fall under that umbrella.”
The pieces varied not only in age, but in speed and instrumental focus. Zinno, who has been teaching URI musical combos for over 25 years, described how each piece was meant to showcase the work of the musicians combined as well as individual solo highlights.
Zinno’s combo performs two concerts per semester and had been preparing for roughly six weeks prior to this show. The group was formed at the beginning of the semester by audition, and consists of students required by major to participate, as well as those choosing to participate as an elective.
He also described the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on URI’s jazz program, as well as other programs around the country. He said that as students were quarantined at home, many stopped playing their instruments, which saw a drop in band participation beyond high school.
“If people around campus play an instrument and are interested, we are interested in them as well,” Zinno said. “We have opportunities.”
URI’s jazz department hosts multiple events each semester showcasing different performers, all of which can be viewed on the school’s Department of Music website at https://web.uri.edu/music/ under events.