Back-to-back jazz

VCU Jazz closes out its semester with two student performances-the Small Jazz Ensembles on Monday evening and Jazz Orchestra II on Tuesday evening.

Directed by various jazz faculty members and comprised of more than 50 students, the SJEs are poised to perform a broad spectrum of musical styles including bebop, swing, bossa nova and Afro-Cuban.

Monday’s SJE concert will feature the music of not only renowned, but locally educated composers. Among the list include nine music students, faculty drum set professor Tony Martucci and artists like Wayne Shorter, John Coltrane and Thelonius Monk.

Jazz Studies Director Antonio Garcia said the ensembles, which often feature around 10 students, provide an opportunity to expand their horizons.

“The advantage is the color and writing,” Garcia said. “There’s a distinct advantage at VCU for students to write evocative charts for small groups or horns that they wouldn’t have for a smaller group or a quintet.”

The large influx of jazz studies majors results in extra instrumentalists, including drummers who have to switch to the vibraphone or auxiliary percussion. This is not a problem according to Garcia, who says careful management results in the production of good music.

“It really depends on any given year what the best avenues are for students,” Garcia said. “It’s a tested mathematical model that yields good musical results.”

Jazz trumpet major Lucas Fritz said while the amount of students in the ensemble can sometimes keep students from having input, Garcia’s direction helps all the students grow muscially.

“Tony (Garcia) is really analytical about how people play,” Fritz said. “He’s able to ask us questions that make us figure stuff out. He’s doesn’t just tell us to do things.”

Tuesday’s Jazz Orchestra II concert will feature music by Oliver Nelson, Duke Ellington, Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones and others.

A highlight of the evening will be several selections from Ellington’s “New Orleans Suite,” a multi-movement work from Ellington’s later period.

Though faculty trumpet professor Taylor Barnett directs the orchestra, Garcia said the input goes between the orchestras. As the director for Jazz Orchestra I, Garcia said the upside of having two jazz orchestras is to be able to focus on varied repertoire.

“I got the ball rolling at the beginning of the semester, I picked out (pieces) from ‘New Orleans Suite’ as something (Jazz Orchestra I) would perform. That might have prompted Taylor to look at the other envelope,” Garcia said. “The great thing about having two jazz orchestras is to create a good balance in programming for the audience.”

Fritz said Barnett’s teaching ability promises to energize the evening’s concert.

“Taylor knows so much about big band music,” Fritz said. “Since he’s a composer, he understands how pieces are put together, he can lead the band in a good direction. He knows what’s up.”

The VCU Small Jazz Ensembles perform Monday, Nov. 24 at 8 p.m. in the Sonia Vlahcevic Concert Hall at the W.E. Singleton Center for the Performing Arts. Admission is free to the public.

The VCU Jazz Orchestra II performs in the same venue at the same time on Tuesday, Nov. 25. Admission is also free.