By Heather Riddell
In Motion Staff Writer
We don’t throw the terms around lightly, but amazing, wonderful and refreshing all describe the recent Daytona State College’s Jazz Ensembles concert at the News-Journal Center’s Davidson Theater.
Presented by the Mike Curb College of Music, Entertainment and Art, Director Abe Alum is definitely doing something right, but the students are the machine that makes it all work. Although the jazz tunes were awesome, when student Gabe Hannans stepped up to lend his voice to the melodies the audience went wild.
Playing classics such as “Take the ‘A’ Train (Duke Ellington), “Georgia On My Mind” (Hoagy Carmichael) and the always beautiful bissa nova “Girl from Ipanema” (Antonios Jobim), the theater almost seemed to be magically transformed into a smoke-filled jazz club. It’s not something anyone will have the pleasure of experiencing in 2018 unless they seek out this type of performance. That’s how rare it is to catch a set of classic jazz these days.
Will Rose played lead saxophone on almost all songs and once again, this is another talented musician that is certain to go places with his career. He gave a stunning performance, never missing a beat with the band.
The various Jazz Ensembles performed three sets and the last featured talented bassist Pat Gallo, who is also part of the 88 Upright, a jazz duo from Orlando. Gallo is also the Bass Instructor at Daytona State College and at Seminole State College.
At the end of the night, the last set was just as outstanding as the previous two, with members of the audience feeling the beat and really getting into the tunes.
The concern opened with “‘A’ Train,” but with a twist. The arrangement was a DSC original inspired by a YouTube video Director Alum saw featuring an artist named Ernie Shepherd scat singing. Made most famous by vocalists Ella Firtgerald and Sarah Vaughan, scatting is when the artist uses their voice to improvise and mimic instruments such as the trumpet. The two artists, Hannans singing and Gallo on bass was an original hit with the crowd.
The Fall production ended on a high and catchy note with Pee Wee Ellis’s, “The Chicken” and left the audience wanting more. The Jazz Ensemble will hold another performance in April and it’s one that those in attendance at the fall concert surely won’t want to miss. Neither should anyone else.