On Wednesday Evening May 11th I attended the DU Jazz Faculty Combo concert. Overall I was extremely impressed and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The event was held in the Hamilton Recital Hall, a beautiful facility with fantastic acoustics. I was amazed to discover that each of the pieces played was actually composed by a student from DU. I could not fathom how to even begin composing a piece for a single instrument, let alone an entire jazz ensemble.
I thought it was very interesting how in each of the pieces, certain instruments were highlighted with solos. I was also surprised to hear the audience clap after each solo, right in the middle of the piece. I would have thought that to be disrupting and disrespectful.
The two pieces I enjoyed most were Drifting Toward You by Amy Darling and Upstairs, First Door on the Left by Adam Gang. These compositions were a bit slower and more romantic, the soft smooth jazz I would expect.
The faculty’s dynamics were spot on and their sound quality was rich. I could not help but wonder how long it took them to learn the pieces for the concert because the fingering and notes sounded extremely complicated. I was so impressed with Eric Gunnison’s work on the piano. I loved watching how quickly his fingers moved.
Although I enjoyed the concert, after about five songs the music all sounded very similar, but I think I should start listening to jazz music and learn to appreciate it more than I do.
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