Jazz Concert Essay

Utah State Big Bands presented a tribute to Pepper Adams on Wednesday, April 5th at the Performance Hall with two groups performing we were sure in for a wonderful evening full of Jazz. The first group, the Jazz Ensembles, was led by Greg Wheeler. The first piece was “Lost Mind” the stand out of this piece was the Alto Saxophonist, Kyle Merrill. He stood out and grabbed my attention more so than the other soloist during this piece. His solo had a rich sound, along with a smooth and swingy rhythm. The piece over all had a rhythm that was easy to tap your foot to and I was doing so throughout the piece. It was a bright sounding piece and it started the concert off on the right foot. The second piece played was “In a Mellow Tone”. This song
I felt with Jason's first solo part the tone and dynamics of what he was playing, did not match what the rest of the band behind him was playing. It felt out of place and as if he was constantly changing the volume level of what he was playing, which made it difficult to catch onto any harmony he was going for. My favorite piece the Jazz Ensembles played was “Trenton” which had Special Guest Jason Marshall as well as Max Matzen. This piece was bright, had articulation, and a complex harmony. The song seemed to be played in the major key, and have a swingy Latin sounding rhythm. This piece made you want to get up out of your seat and dance to the music. We then were able to hear from the USU Jazz Orchestra lead by Jon Gudmundson. They started out with a piece “Youngblood”, followed by “I Left My Heart In San Francisco” which was a soft and pure piece. This song changed the mood again to a very calming relaxed listening experience which made this piece wonderful. They then played “Bossallegro” which had a happy melody and made me feel as if I was in New Orleans. It had a dance tempo and flowing sound. I felt that special Guest Jason Marshall did much better with this song and kept up with the tempo and harmony of everyone