Eleven o'clock is jazz time

By: Megan Henderson

Posted: 10/22/07

A group of musicians in the Conservatory of Music and Dance at UMKC meet every Tuesday and Thursday at 11 a.m. to play jazz.

They showed the results of their dedicated practice to the audience in Pierson Auditorium on Oct. 16. The group, called the Eleven o'Clock Jazz Band, is directed by Michael Pagán, assistant professor of jazz studies.

The band played eight charts, which is slang for sheet music.

Pagán chose the pieces, he said, to create a combination of programming that displayed the talents of the members of the group.

"I picked songs based on players' abilities and to have diverse styles and programmings, ballad then fast, to showcase different talents of the band," he said.

Pagán counted off their first tune, "A Drop in the Bucket." It was lively and upbeat and set the tone for the evening. The strong horns and drumbeats made it difficult to sit still.

The next chart, "Chelsea Bridge," began with a trumpet solo by freshman Cory Griffin. His delicate slides and careful pitches made this sultry piece come to life. The band followed his lead, playing powerful swells with gentle returns to quiet. I could have easily been in the Blue Room sipping a martini.

Pagán prefaced the next song for the audience.

"There are some big surprises in this chart as well," he said. "This is a really mainstream version."

The song, "You Don't Know What Love Is," returned to the upbeat start of the show. The band played hot potato with the melody, giving every section a chance to shine. The drums and the double bass kept the beat moving. An energetic trombone solo by graduate student Geremy Grote claimed the spotlight for a while. The audience and Pagán were snapping and moving along.

The band played a slow tune, "If I Loved You."

They jumped back to the quick pace with "Airegin." This song added soprano saxophones and flutes.

It also featured solo sections by Fred Simms on the alto saxophone and Justin Bayne on the tenor saxophone. Simms and Bayne threw the solo back and forth to each other.

Bayne played his four bars of solo and Simms answered with four, a form called trading fours.

An unfortunate placement of the microphone sadly made some of Simms' solo hard to hear.

The final tune of the evening, "Scam and Eggs," proved the band saved the best for last. The piano and bass played a mellow intro, but things quickly picked up. Freshman Mario Bennett had a soprano saxophone solo full of impressive, acrobatic runs. The band took it back down in the middle, with fluid, romantic performances by the piano and soprano saxophone, but sped it right back up.

Though solid through the entire evening, drummer Zach Sanders really let loose in the end of this tune. His drum solo proved he could showcase his own rhythms, while keeping with the feel of the song.

In the end, all of the musicians came together in full force for the exciting, powerful finale.

Jazz Friends, a community organization that supports the jazz program at UMKC, was on hand throughout the performance and provided refreshments and fresh baked cookies for attendees.

"They are people who love to support our program," Pagán said. "They do lots of wonderful things to support our program and help it flourish."

mhenderson@unews.com