This past Saturday, the Adrian College jazz bands held their last concert of the year. It was held in Dawson Auditorium for an audience of about 100. Directed by assistant professor of music Pete Ford, and assisted by associate professor of music Marty Marks, three jazz ensembles showcased their hard work.
The AC Dixieland band opened the show with “Sensation.” The band, comprised of seven members, then performed two more numbers, “Basin Street Blues,” which treated the audience to a kick line, and “It Don’t Mean a Thing.” They also made way for the next group.
The 6 p.m. jazz ensemble is made up of over 20 AC students. Their performances featured solos from vocalist and sophomore Jaelinn Soeltner and multiple instrument solos. They performed four numbers: “Blue Note Special,” “Cute,” “Don’t Know Why,” and “Sack of Woe.”
Finally, the 8 p.m. jazz ensemble set up its instruments. The last group of the evening, the band is made up of 18 students and performed six numbers with several instrumental solos. Opening with “That’s Life,” the band followed with “Nice Work If You Can Get It,” which featured junior Dan Steinkopf on vocals, then “Four Brothers.” The next song was a classic Ella Fitzgerald tune sang by Hannah Messerschmidt (“Tisket a Tasket”), followed by 1970s rock/funk/jazz piece “Oregon.” The band finished with “Spain.”
“This is just a lot of fun. This piece is ambitious and challenging. The band sounds great on this,” Ford said about “Oregon.”
Students, parents, grandparents, and children showed their support for all the hard work put in by the directors and students.
This concert was the last of the school year, which made for bittersweet feelings for the seniors.
“This was a wonderful, eye-opening experience that I’m sad to see come to an end. I’m really happy with how it went. The music was by far the most challenging of all [of] my four years in jazz band,” said senior Scott Fisher.
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