The Elm Student Newspaper
Jazz Band performs program in Tawes that spans decades
Heidi Atwood
The Jazz Band performed in Tawes Theatre
Sunday November 19 at 4 p.m.
Photograph by Christina Vouros, Elm photographer.
Tawes Theatre resonated with music Sunday, November 19, as the WC Jazz Band took the stage for its annual fall performance. The band, directed by music professor Amzie Parcell, played a selection that spanned decades of jazz history.
Some of the featured works were written as early as the 1930s. Others were composed as recently as 1995.
The Jazz Band, which consists of 18 members, played a variety of works from some well-known and some not-so-well-known composers. Some of the pieces featured in the program, including "What a Wonderful World," by George Weiss and Bob Thiele, were familiar even to those who are not jazz connoisseurs.
One of the more recent compositions on the program was "Channel Three," written by Jay Chattaway, the award winning composer of the Star Trek Deep Space Nine theme.
Melissa Maenner, one of the band's pianists, said she particularly enjoyed playing the first song on the program, entitled "The Opener."
She commented, "I played it in high school and loved it then."
Many of the band's musicians were featured in solos. Among the soloists were junior Michael Virts on the tenor saxophone, senior Brooke Wakeman on alto saxophone, senior Jurek Edmonston on trumpet, and senior Jamie Keffer on baritone.
Most of the pieces performed were solely instrumental. However, some numbers required vocal accompaniment. Freshman vocalist Molly Williams joined the band for "What a Wonderful World" and a ballad from the 1940s, entitled "Trav'lin' Light," by Johnny Mercer, Jimmy Mundy, and Trummy Young.
Freshman Lindsay Wolfe, who attended the concert, was impressed with Williams's ability. "Molly Williams is a great singer," she said.
Maenner thought the performance was only satisfactory. "I thought our rehearsal right before the show was better than the actual performance," she said. "All in all, I was pleased. We had a group of talented musicians who pulled together. We had a lot of fun."
Freshman trombonist Adam Steficek thought the concert was a success.
"I thought we did really well considering that we only practice once a week."Only a small number of WC students took advantage of the concert. Even though many Chestertown residents attended the event, Tawes Theatre was less than half filled.
Nonetheless, Steficek was not discouraged by the poor attendance. "There were actually more people there than I thought there would be," he commented.
One of the last songs that the band performed was a recent salsa and swing composition called "Hot to Trot," by Victor Lopez. The concert ended with a work entitled "Kicks n' Licks," by Howard Rowe.
Those WC students who attended the concert seemed to enjoy it. "I thought it was a wonderful compilation of talented students," commented Wolfe.
Another student echoed Wolfe's praise: "I had a great time. I am glad that I came and listened."
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