Saxophones, trombones, trumpets, a varying rhythm section and the steady hand of a conductor, keeping the controlled chaos just that – controlled.
The UT Jazz Big Band performed their first program of the year Tuesday evening to an endearing crowd in the Sandra G. Powell Recital Hall.
The ensemble performed nine jazz standards under the conduction of Keith Brown, senior lecturer and director of the band.
The program opened with bass trombonist Sean Copeland performing “America the Beautiful” in honor of Veterans Day.
The concert was dedicated to the memory of Horace Silver, a representative of the jazz genre who died in June at 85 years old.
“I found a theme for this program in June when Silver passed,” Brown said. “I figured the best thing I could do to honor his name would be to play a program in his honor this fall.”
Brown went on to mention that the entirety of the concert would be performed using composers that were either Silver or were related through music in some way to Silver.
He specifically pointed out Silver’s “Song For My Father” as being on an album which “stands alongside Miles Davis’ ‘Kind of Blue,’ John Coltrane’s ‘Giant Steps'” and others from the hard bop jazz genre.
As Brown’s way of showing thanks for the musicians work throughout the semester, several members of the ensemble received at least one solo performance, with a few receiving multiple solos.
One of those soloists was Alex Gray, a freshman in music, who was singled out during “Song For My Father” with his baritone saxophone.
“I was a little nervous, as this was my first program performance,” Gray confessed.
However, the anxiety faded quickly, and Gray was audibly joyful at how the program unfolded.
“I thought it was a great idea to showcase the works of Blue Note Records and to dedicate the show to someone like Silver,” Gray said. “We’ve been preparing for this since August, so I felt like it went very smoothly.”
The next UT Jazz Big Band concert will be a program on Dec. 1 with the other jazz ensembles at UT called Jazz For Tots.
Admission for that event is free, as long as audience members bring a pre-wrapped toy for Knoxville area children.
This was the 70th program of the season at the Natalie L. Haslam Music Center.
