Review: The Great American Songbook

The jazz ensembles did a wonderful job on Thursday evening under the direction of Greg Ball. Both ensembles brought their own flare and fun to each performance and made the show very enjoyable to watch. The music chosen was a variety of songs; however they were all songs written by American composers. 

Jazz Ensemble II started off the evening with a very upbeat song called “Cute” by Neal Hefti.  It was fun and bouncy and very, well, cute. The stand out performance from Jazz Ensemble II was a song called “Don’t Know Why” written by Jesse Harris, performed by Kristyn Blunt, a criminal justice/psychology major. Blunt did an extraordinary job with this song. Her vocals were amazing and you could tell she enjoyed singing the song. The last performance from Ensemble II featured a group performance to the song “Blue Moon” by Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart. The group had a great dynamic and their voices blended very nicely together.

Jazz Ensemble I welcomed us back from intermission with a great number called “Slauson Cutoff” by Tom Kubis. The song was so much fun, even Professor Ball was dancing on stage to the music. Stand out performances of Ensemble I were given by Jacob Humphries and Ashley Morrison. Humphries, a junior music education major, sang a classic song called “Feeling Good” written by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newly, and popularized by Michael Buble. Humphries did an amazing job bringing the bluesy feel to the song, along with soloist Rico Allen on the Tenor Saxophone, and the song was a hit. It received a standing ovation from the crowd. Morrison, a vocal performance major, closed the evening with a song called “Whatever Lola Wants” written by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. She gave the song a dramatic flair by stopping the music at the beginning to bring out the male singers of the evening, including Professor Ball at one point, as her “backup singers”. Her voice was very sultry and smooth, and she also received a standing ovation from the crowd.

Overall the night was a success for the Jazz Ensembles. The music was fun and the bands were wonderful.