The Fine Arts Center at the University of Rhode Island held their first Jazz Combo concert of the year on Thursday.
There was no theme to the concert. Normally the sets of music are chosen by the individual directors and students, according to assistant professor of music, Emmett Goods. They think of their combo concerts as their midterm.
The concert featured two combos, The Annex Five and the URI Standards Combo.
The Annex Five is a student ensemble led by Mark Berney, a teacher in jazz trumpet, Goods said. The combo is a course and they rehearse together in the Music Annex Building, across from the FAC on Upper College Road.
Goods also said that the URI Standards Combo is a student combo led by Dave Zinno, a teacher in jazz string bass. The combo meets every Thursday and plays songs out of the Great American Songbook or songs associated with a jazz artist.
Each combo played four songs. The Annex Five performed a variety of jazz music while the URI Standards Combo celebrated the music and style of Horace (Ward Martin) Silver, a jazz pianist and composer.
“It’s rare for the ‘URI Standards Combo’ to spend the semester learning how to play like a specific jazz musician. Goods said. “Usually they would just learn the songs,”
The four songs played by The Annex Five were “Tenor Madness” by Sonny Rollins, a saxophonist, “Lady Bird” by Tadd Dameron, a jazz pianist, composer and arranger, “Misty” by Erroll Garner, another jazz pianist and composer and “St. Thomas”, another song by Sonny Rollins.
“Tenor Madness” was a fast paced blues song with various solos from each instrument. There were two tenor saxophone players whose solos were improvised and loud. The solos gave a way where you could feel the madness from the song. Secondly, there was a drummer where he played at such a high speed you almost couldn’t see his hands. Finally, the bass and piano added depth to the piece as a whole, complementing the saxophones as they lead the piece. While they are the least instruments heard, they keep the tempo.
“Lady Bird” was upbeat and lively as well but the difference between the two songs is “Lady Bird had a mixture of speed with some fast and moderate parts, whereas “Tenor Madness” stayed in fast motion. “St. Thomas” was similar with “Lady Bird” because it had a groove but it was stronger in tone and the sound was more connected.
Unlike the other three, “Misty” was a ballad. The speed was slower, the music was softer and added emotion to the piece. The ballad was piano heavy and it set the mood with drums as its accompaniment. The tenor saxophone added texture and worked well with the piano to make the song somber and sweet.
After “The Annex Five” finished their set, URI Standards Combo began. To show Silver’s music and style, they called their set, “The Silver Sound.” The four songs were “Barbara”, “Senor Blues”, “Peace” and “Cookin’ at the Continental”.
“Barbara” was upbeat and had a moderate speed with added drama from the tenor saxophone. Unlike The Annex Five, the combo only had one tenor saxophone, a trombone, guitar and a vocalist, who scatted along to many songs.
“Senor Blues” was more upbeat and gradually got louder by the end of the piece. The trombone and saxophone were in sync with each other and the piano and other instruments followed along. During the whole piece, they stayed as a complete sound and the audience
Like “Misty”, “Peace” was a ballad as well . While the instruments had a loud sound, the tempo was slower and created emotion to the song. To add more feeling, the vocalist had a few solos to show what the song was about. One memorable lyric was “We must have peace for our children.”
“Cookin’ at the Continental” was the most upbeat song of the set and a perfect way to end the concert. After the emotional ballad, the song brought the audience back to life. It also had a groove and the ability to make people dance. It was continuously fast throughout and when the song ended, the whole audience clapped. Overall, both combos were worth watching and fun to listen to.
According to Goods, for future jazz concerts, audiences should expect a variety of music. The concert on Tuesday featured their Latin Jazz Ensemble where they had vocal students in Jazz sing in Spanish.
“It was interesting to have singers as a part of that group. It was a very exciting concert,” Goods said.
For more concerts at the Fine Arts Center, go to https://events.uri.edu/fine_arts_center