| Vocalists add another dimension to concert experience (12/07) | | Print | |
| Written by Amy Seaman | |
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The Lowell Jazz Band provided a widely applauded finish to the third Winter Band Concert, which featured the Intermediate, Advanced and Symphonic band classes in the Carol Channing Auditorium on Nov. 30.
Band director and music teacher Mitchell Wagner explained that he chose the song because of his confidence in his students. “I choose the songs to fit my musicians,” he said. “It’s not often that I have a guitarist like Alex Froelich who can play guitar solos like these.” Pertzel found the second song, “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore,” originally by Duke Ellington, slightly more difficult to perform. “Sometimes the band would get out of control and play way too loudly, but I think we did really well,” Pertzel said. The band encountered an additional challenge with the addition of junior vocalist Desiree Choy. Choy’s voice rang through the auditorium with her clear words and strong notes during Cole Porter’s “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” and “The Look of Love” by Burt Bacharach. “Even though I’ve only been in Jazz Band for a year, I think (the concert) was very successful,” Choy said. Audience member Jay Schwartz liked the new addition to the band. “People were really getting into (the music) and there was lots of clapping for the soloists and vocalist,” he said. Schwartz liked the songs because “they were more modern and I had heard them before.” In the duet, “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” arranged by Frank Loesser, senior drummer Kevin Obana joined Choy in singing about cold winter nights. “The students picked (that) song,” Wagner explained. “I just went out and found an arrangement of it, and we played it.” The band’s final song, a dance number titled “What is Hip?” by Tower of Power, reflected the band’s ability to play multiple styles. “It was a funky and fast song that brought a dramatic close to the show,” sophomore pianist Jacob Clinton said. After their performance at the concert, the jazz band members are ready to branch off into quartets and quintets to begin learning new songs, in preparation for the second annual Jazz Pops concert on Jan. 4, 2008. “This concert will have a whole bunch of different groups,” Pertzel said. “The orchestra usually plays a couple of numbers and we work with choir sometimes.” He added that last year’s performers included acapella singers as well as a soul quartet that played covers of the metal band Metallica. The concert also gives the bands a chance to express their more “poppy” sides, according to junior bassist Kenny Ludlow. “It’s more casual than other concerts,” she said. “It’s like seeing four concerts in one because you get a glimpse of all of the music classes.” Come see the band’s renditions of these songs and more at the Carol Channing Auditorium at 7 p.m. on Jan. 4, 2008. |
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to listen.
