Tarleton Jazz Ensembles “Swing Into Spring”

The end of the fast and furious school year always brings about the time for end-of-season concerts, and Tarleton State University’s Jazz Bands put together a fantastic program for the evening of April 25. The house was close to being full this evening in anticipation for the the final jazz show of the school year. The crowd was quickly hushed by the dimming of the lights, to which Director Greg Ball assured, “Y’all relax now. It’s a jazz band concert, alright?”

From the get go, the bands’ coordination and communication between player and director was stupendous. Jazz II opened up with “Hay Burner,” featuring Logan Fraser on piano, an enjoyable standing sax feature, and particular moment of trumpet wailing. This was then followed by “Nadalin,” a lovely piece featuring Matt Daigle on the “bloated trumpet,” also known as the flugelhorn. Ball referred to it as “a beautiful, beautiful tune” beforehand, and indeed, it was.

“Señorita Blues” by Les Hooper had a steady beat with a trombone solo by Josh Duran, which wasn’t anything too complicated, but very well done nonetheless. It also featured the drum set player, Sam White, who played on his own for a fun and animalistic couple of minutes.

The band then played “Afro Blues,” which opened up with a lighting change, making the the background of the stage green, which I thought was a nice visual touch. Ravi Nolan on tenor sax, Wolfgang Kimsey on guitar, and Johnathen Standifer on trumpet all receive two thumbs up from me. This was a very fun piece to listen to.

As Greg Ball bragged on the ensemble, I had to agree that Jazz II was indeed “smokin'” at this point. Their final number of the night, “High Maintenance” sounded like a challenging piece, but the band performed it to a level beyond their years as musicians, and are to be highly commended for it. The solos by Rudy Whitsel on alto sax and Garrett Hagen on trumpet were magnificent, but my favorite moment of the song was a mid-section bari sax-trombone exchange. Jazz II strongly ended their portion of the concert, as an intermission featuring members of the trumpet ensemble entered the stage.

The lights dimmed down to a shade of purple as the six trumpet players began their piece to entertain the crowd between the two jazz bands. After a quick tuning, Cody Sergeant started the song up with a solo, soon to be joined by the rest in great harmonization. This was a neat feature, and the crowd responded quite well to it.

As Jazz I entered the scene, cheers could be heard from the audience for particular members, such as graduating senior Jacob Wright, as well other prominent faces of Tarleton Jazz. The band opened with “Fruitcake,” a Jeff Coffin piece, which featured Fredy Gonzales on bari sax, and an occasionally dancing Cary C. Richards. An exciting solo from Destin Chapman on trombone, a growling muted trumpet solo from Steve Braack, and a skillful moment from Michael Hampel on tenor sax were all very well done and greatly contributed to the strength of the piece.

“Wobble,” yet another Jeff Coffin piece and a personal favorite of mine, began with a tenor sax-trombone exchange, which continued throughout the piece. The song featured Chris Gaitan on alto sax, who made an excellent use of variety in his moment in the spotlight, both dynamically and stylistically. Corey Warthman followed with a guitar solo, his smile echoing the smoothness of his feature.

The band then played “Chaos Theory,” a piece that slid back and forth between normality and chaos. It was almost eerie at times, but the swinging drum set beat was always there to restore piece. Jake Shackelford’s trombone solo was a moment of calm amidst the craziness, until the trumpets slowly built up the return of chaos. A favorite moment of mine was the mini sax-showdown between Fredy Gonzales on bari and Jacob Wright on tenor during Wright’s solo. The song ended peacefully with a sweet piano feature by Emily Burton.

The time in between the songs at this point was used to bid farewell to graduating members of the band, including Jacob Wright and Mark Frank. Both members have been around for years, and I have observed their performances in various ensembles. These guys are going places, to say the least, and it can only be hoped that the world is ready for them.

“Sweet Magnolias” was a slow, steady, sexy tune with a very fitting tenor sax feature, as well as a wonderful piano improvisation provided by Emily Burton. Jacob Wright’s solo tenor sax moments undoubtedly echoed the grandeur of composer and tenor saxophonist Jeff Coffin himself.

An audience favorite, “The Chicken,” was the next number of the night. It had a special feature, as the son of Greg Ball, Stephenville High School senior David Ball took over the reigns on drum set, much to the pride of his father. A groovy bass line provided by Mark Frank led the way as the song built up to another sax showdown, this time between Jacob Wright and Greg Ball himself. This was probably the most memorable moment of the night, and definitely one of the most intertaining.

A jazzy re-take of Radiohead’s “High and Dry” was next, and proved to be a whole new, wonderful spin on the tune. A steady rising and falling between loud and soft moments really made the catchy piece whole.

The band closed the concert with a rock-tango number, “Michelangelo.” It included a well-improvised solo by Beth Rugg on trumpet, as well as a sax and guitar feature. The sudden tempo changes increased the excitement even more, keeping the crowd’s heads nodding and toes tapping, as it went faster and faster, until it was suddenly over, which I thought was rather reminiscent of the school year.

As always, I have nothing but praise for these groups, as they have never disappointed me. In my time at Tarleton, I have become a fan and appreciator of jazz as these performances have enlightened me to even more good music. “Swing Into Spring” was the perfect closer to a spectacular season.