Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021 at 7:30 pm

Click Here to View "An Evening of Jazz" Live Stream

 

Music Professor David L. Smith will direct the Santa Fe College Jazz Ensemble in the “Evening of Jazz” concert to be live-streamed at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021. The student musicians will be playing in the Lyceum, the former Building E Auditorium that was renovated in 2020 and now serves as the Ensemble’s rehearsal and performance space.

The program will begin with an up-tempo piece by George Shearing, followed by a slow swing tune by Duke Ellington that makes use of a call-and-response format and features vocalist Madeline Buckholz. First tenor saxophone player Caleb Zin will be featured on the third number, a ballad by Victor Young. These first three traditional jazz pieces will be followed by a tune based on the musical style pioneered by Cuban bandleader, pianist, composer and arranger Perez Prado that incorporates Latin American rhythms and jazz orchestration popular during the 1950s mambo craze.

“This will be our students’ first concert from the Lyceum since that space was renovated last year,” Smith explained. “This fall’s ‘Evening of Jazz,’ a consistently popular concert, is a great way to premier live performances in this space. There are 18 musicians in the Jazz Ensemble and they’ve all been working very hard for this concert.”

The USA’s only original musical art form, jazz incorporates diverse musical elements that are characteristic of a “melting pot” society. Melodies can include African American musical traditions as well as blues, swing and improvisation—the three most important elements that distinguish this unique art form from any other style of music.

“Jazz has a free-form spirit that enables musicians to express themselves individually while also working together,” Smith said. “Improvisation lets the artists create music based on what they are feeling and hearing in the moment, and our soloists will be improvising during ‘Evening of Jazz.’”

Smith is a trombonist who has a Master of Music degree in Jazz Studies (Performance) from the University of South Florida and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Jazz-Performance from the University of Colorado Boulder. He has performed with legendary jazz trombonist George Buster Cooper of the Duke Ellington Orchestra and other leading jazz artists in New York including Wycliffe Gordon, Marcus Roberts, Jason Marsalis and Vincent Gardner.

“An Evening of Jazz” is organized and sponsored by the Santa Fe College Fine Arts and Entertainment Technology Department. For more information about Showpass tickets for the live-streamed performance, call the Santa Fe College Fine Arts Hall Box Office at 352-395-4181. For more information about the Jazz Ensemble and the SF bands, call David Smith at 352-395-5313.