Jazz Classics on Tap for April 1 Chamber Jazz Ensemble Concert
Contact: Karel Lidral, 581-1256; George Manlove, 581-3756
ORONO — Members of the University of Maine Chamber Jazz Ensemble will present their formal spring concert at Leonard and Renee Minsky Recital Hall in the Class of 1944 Hall on the University of Maine Tuesday, April 1, at 7:30 pm.
The organization, established in the fall of 2006 in conjunction with the introduction of the new minor in jazz studies, is a group of several soloists or small ensembles performing with piano accompaniment. This semester’s group consists of 16 musicians, representing a variety of instruments. The organization emphases the development of skills in the art of jazz improvisation, in addition to developing what scholars call “the other salient aspect of jazz, swing feeling,” according to associate professor of music Karel Lidral, who directs the Maine Chamber Jazz Ensemble and is adviser for the minor in jazz studies and minor in music.
Since performers do not audition to join, instrumentalists at all levels are able to participate in the ensemble at their own ability levels. This semester’s organization ranges from first-year students to graduate students, all from a wide variety of majors.
In the Chamber Jazz Ensemble, the standard jazz rhythm section — usually piano, bass and drums — is replaced by the piano in the same spirit that orchestral reductions for the piano are used by recitalists in the classical realm, according to Lidral.
The concert program includes great jazz standards and originals from: “Blue Seven” by Sonny Rollins, “Cottontail” by Duke Ellington, “Equinox” by John Coltrane, “Gingerbread Boy” by Jimmy Heath, “Little Sunflower” by Freddie Hubbard, “My Secret Love” by Bobby Sherwood, “Revelation” by Kenny Barron, “Sister Sadie” by Horace Silver, “Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise” by Sigmund Romberg and “Speak Low” by Kurt Weill.
General admission is $6, with free admittance for UMaine students with a MaineCard. For more information, contact the Maine Center for the Arts Box Office at 581-1755 or visit the UMaine School of Performing Arts website (www.umaine.edu/spa).
The Chamber Jazz Ensemble also will perform at the Bangor Public Library from 7-7:45 p.m. on April 8, as part of Jazz Appreciation Month. The group will perform again on the UMaine campus April 9 and April 23, in the Bear’s Den of the Memorial Union from 1-2 p.m. These events are free and open to the public.
Student musicians include: Stephanie Allard of Woonsocket, R.I., flute; chemistry major John Brushie of Surry, piano; music education major Alex Cardamone of Scarborough, trumpet; music education major Ben Cox of Topsham, clarinet; Ph.D. candidate in bioengineering Gary Craig of Oakland, alto saxophone; music education major Ray DeLear of Corinth, soprano saxophone; sustainable agriculture major Ben Dobrowski of Warner, N.N., alto saxophone; music education major Anna-Marlies Hunter of Eastport, clarinet; music education major Kevin Judkins of Mt. Vernon, guitar; business major Steve Kane of Merrimack, N.H., alto saxophone; music performance major Nathaniel Kellogg of Orono, ‘cello; political science major Skye Landry of Oxford, Maine, trumpet; zoology major Denise Loring of Braintree, Mass., trombone; music major Adam Mullen of Brewer, guitar; elementary education major Malory Petersen of Old Orchard Beach, tenor saxophone; and music education major Karl Varian of Brandon, Vt., trumpet.
Lidral earned degrees at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign and taught in Illinois and New Hampshire before coming to UMaine in 1993. He teaches at graduate and undergraduate levels at UMaine. As a performing artist, Lidral has shared the concert stage with such jazz greats as Red Rodney, Jon Faddis and Chuck Israels, and, during a two-year period in New York City, he performed as a regular member of and recorded with Jack McDuff’s jazz quintet.