Jazz music and musicians will be showcased both on and off campus during Jazz Week, which will be capped off with a performance by jazz vocalist Jane Monheit.
Jazz Week, which starts today and ends April 5, will feature student and faculty performances ranging from jazz guitar to big band music.
“Jazz Week is a week of jazz events that primarily showcase the performance ensembles that are sponsored by the jazz area of the College of Musical Arts,” said music performance studies professor Jeffrey Halsey. “The students and faculty in the jazz area interact in a community that is designed to showcase the American creative music that is commonly called jazz.”
One special activity taking place during the week of festivities is a performance by vibraphonist Dave Samuels. According to Halsey, Samuels’ participation during Jazz Week was made a reality with a little help from donors Jerry Liss and Marlene Norton. Students taking part in the week of performances feel that Jazz Week can be enjoyable even to those who are not fans of the genre.
“There is nothing like experiencing live music, whether you are familiar with the materials being played or not,” senior Elijiah Vazquez said. “There is something electrifying about hearing music performed well, and to see the musicians enjoy themselves in the process.”
Vazquez, who will perform many times during the week, says students should put aside any previous ideas about jazz or what one will see during a performance.
“Expect to be surprised, and check your preconceived notions of what jazz may be at the door,” he said. “Jazz Week is about embracing numerous different types of jazz from latin jazz to big band to bee bop to avant-garde.”
According to Vazquez, there is one element of the music that makes jazz unique.
“The element of improvisation is what really separates a great jazz performance from from most other genres of music,” he said. The week will culminate with a performance at the Dorothy Bryan Memorial by jazz vocalist Jane Monheit. Monheit is one of today’s most accomplished jazz vocalists and, at the age of 24, one of the youngest to achieve such prominence. She has already performed with some of jazz’s most distinguished musicians, including Kenny Barron and Bucky Pizzarelli.
Tickets for Monheit’s performance are $32, $24 and $16 at the center box office.
