This Sunday, students, family members and faculty gathered at the Von der Mehden Recital Hall for the UConn Jazz Lab’s final performance of the semester. The group, directed by Director of Jazz Studies Earl MacDonald, presented a repertoire featuring the likes of Thad Jones, Sammy Nestico and Noël Coward.
Upon taking the stage, the Jazz Lab launched straight into the program with Thad Jones’ “My Centennial,” a lighthearted piece that began with a solitary bassline and built upon itself. The track was released in 1977 in honor of the United States Bicentennial, though Jones’ own centennial (hundredth birthday) was celebrated in 2023. For this reason, Jazz Lab had planned to cover the piece last semester but pushed it to the spring in order to give members more practice time. The extension was worth it, as the group delivered a compelling rendition led by double bass, piano, woodwinds, brass and a rousing guitar solo from Colin Quigley.
After the opening number, MacDonald took the opportunity to acknowledge the time and effort his students had put into rehearsing. For first, second and third-year members, the concert provided an opportunity to show off the skills they had been honing over the past couple of months. For seniors set to graduate in a few weeks, it was a bittersweet farewell to a program many of them had dedicated several years and countless hours to.
The next few pieces, including “Windmill Tilter” by English musicians John Dankworth and Kenny Wheeler, were upbeat and energetic tracks that inspired more than a few drumming fingers, tapping feet and nodding heads among the audience. This afternoon’s selection seemed to stray away from some of the more muted jazz noir numbers featured in the winter concerts, which provided a pleasant change of pace. Though the Jazz Lab consists of no more than twenty members in total, the ensemble had no trouble filling Von der Mehden Hall with its full, bright sound.
Despite the fast-paced, uplifting tone set by the majority of the program, my personal favorite song of the afternoon, “Mad About the Boy” by Noël Coward, was a slower, more melancholy track. “In this one, what I really enjoy is with the trumpet solo, the drums drop out entirely and it’s just trumpet and base. It makes for a really intimate conversation I think you’ll enjoy,” MacDonald promised when introducing the song.
Indeed, featured soloists Madeline van Dyke (trumpet), Sebastian Rodriguez (piano) and Chandler Creedon (saxophone) did an excellent job putting their own spin on the piece. One of the beauties of a live performance such as this is that the musicians will improvise differently each time they perform a song, making for a unique experience that can never be replicated.
If you missed this afternoon’s performance, don’t worry! As the semester draws to a close, UConn’s performing arts ensembles will continue to showcase their talents in various concerts scheduled for the next two weeks. These events are free for students and faculty with a UConn ID and are a wonderful way to expose yourself to new music, support UConn’s musical community and simply relax and unwind.