By Christina Littlefield
A&E Editor
The best of Latin jazz and swing filled Raitt Recital Hall Tuesday night as the Pepperdine University Jazz Ensemble performed its only concert of the year.
Complete with improv instrumental solos and vocalist Lisa Dunn, the small 12-member ensemble reproduced such big band numbers as Juan Tizol and Edward “Duke” Ellington’s “Caravan, “Frank Sinatra’s “They Can’t Take That Away From Me “ and Charlie Parker’s “Yardbird Suite. “
“Jazz was the great commercial music of the 30s and 40s, “ director Dr. Gregory Riley said. “… Rock and pop became a hybrid of jazz. “
Riley, who played the tenor saxophone in the concert, is in his first year of directing the jazz ensemble. He hopes to continue to develop the program and even institute some classes at Pepperdine on jazz history or jazz appreciation.
“I think a lot of students hear the music and appreciate it, “ Riley said. “If there were more courses (on jazz) students would gravitate to it. “
The ensemble features saxophone, trumpet and trombone players, and a percussionist section of the piano, drums and bass. The opening number was Latin jazz song “One Note Samba. “
At the concert, Riley performed a duet with senior bassist Joshua Heath to “Caravan, “ and freshman Ashley Turner recreated Charlie Parker’s famous alto saxophone solo on “Yardbird Suite. “
The latter song was Parker’s attempt to transition his music from the dance floor to the concert arena.
“In many instances composers would choose words to but it beyond dance music … put more sophistication in the title, “ Riley said of the song, which was a forerunner to later bebop music.
A Parker recording was Riley’s first introduction to jazz, but at first he hated it until he joined the jazz band of his high school a year later. He caught on to the music fast and by sophomore year, he was touring Europe with a professional band.
“(Jazz) is a part of me in a lot of ways, “ said Riley, who has also studied classical music. “It’s kind of a labor of love that it just happened. “
Dunn, a two-time Songfest host and senior music major, added her soulful voice to the four songs, “They Can’t Take That Away from Me “ ‘My Funny Valentine, “ “Come Rain of Come Shine” an “Orange Colored Sky.” The opportunity to sing with the ensemble was a dream come true for Dunn.
“I’ve always said I was born in the wrong era, because I love the big band music, Ella Fitzgerald — all that stuff, “ she said. “I’ve always dreamed of singing it. That’s what I would do all the time if I could. “
March 28, 2002
