Keene State’s Jazz Combos performed on Saturday, Nov. 11 at the Redfern Arts Center Alumni Recital Hall.
Directed by Professor Steve Cady, the performance featured two classes of ensemble members, the 3 p.m. combo and the 4 p.m. combo. Each class performed multiple pieces, some of which were organized by the students.
Both classes performed five pieces each, ranging from a variety of genres and instruments. The pieces covered music from bands like The Animals, The Tramps and Fall Out Boy.
The 3 p.m. combo began the performance with pieces such as “Big Nick,” “Lucky Southern,” “The House of the Rising Sun,” “Young at Heart” and “Billie Jean.”
The 4 p.m. combo followed up for the second half of the performance with pieces such as “All Blues,” “Captain Marvel,” “Tea for Two,” “Just One Yesterday” and “Disco Inferno.”
Junior guitarist Jakob Heisey performed in the 4 p.m. combo and said his favorite piece to perform was “Disco Inferno” and that it was a “fun one to play.”
According to Cady, the hardest piece for the ensemble to play was ‘“Captain Marvel,’ it was very very difficult.”
Regarding the performance, Cady said he was impressed with how the performance went and said, “The students played as well as they could, it was beautiful.”
Cady said he enjoyed performing alongside both combos throughout the performance. “I’m a bass player primarily and I play trumpet but not often publicly so the opportunity to play trumpet next to somebody like that was an honor,” he said.
Cady said one of the most exciting aspects of the performance was “playing some really difficult or really interesting music for the setting was really fun.”
Additionally, Cady said another rewarding part of the performance was watching how far his students had grown throughout the semester.
“[Something] that is always most rewarding for me is observing the growth that’s happened in student musicians and seeing the joy that it brings them to do,” Cady said.
Fern Gruenfelder can be contacted at
Fern.Gruenfelder@keene.edu
