The audience sat in the Redfern Performing Arts Center the night of Friday, April 5, as the sound of jazz erupted from the stage.
Steve Cady, the director of the Jazz Combos, explained, “Most of what we’re doing … is not written down. That means improvisation, communication and memorization are all key parts.”
Due to this improvisation, directing the combos does not only fall on Cady. He said some of the music the combos play are from a “jazz library” which is essential for musicians of the genre, while the rest comes from student selections of a wide range of genres.
Cady said the selection process for the pieces was a collaborative experience.
“When it comes to directing, it’s kind of all built into learning how to play together,” Cady said.
Trevor Adams, a senior who has been in Jazz Combos for all eight of his semesters at Keene State, explained, “There’s a lot more freedom when it comes to jazz and it’s simply just because of how the music is written and how it’s been performed. It’s fundamentally been created as an art form of just being able to allow people to improvise however they see fit.”
Adams spoke on the significance of improvisation as an artform.
“Improvisation is a huge part of jazz and that takes a lot of skill to do and the level that some people are able to do that is incredible,” Adams said.
Adams, a trumpet player for the three o’clock Jazz Combo, said, “Everyone compliments each other because there’s just very different sounds in between the different instruments.”
“I hope that the audience at the very least has a good time,” Adams said. “I hope that they can really get a sense of just how creative the whole group of jazz performers can be and just how talented people are because putting it all out there on the stage.”
Audience member Mike Baer stated, “I thought it was excellent, we’ve been coming here for a couple years … and it just gets better and better.”
Benjamin Martins can be contacted at
bmartins@kscequinox.com
