Student Jazz concert muddled

Jazz composers alternately bore and excite, offer uneven program

Thursday's program of new student jazz compositions at the Cat and the Cream coffee house the truly legitimate works were easily distinguished from the hasty and dull. Aside from the evening's standouts, the program generally tended toward performer-oriented abstraction and a parade of ballads that either left the audience completely alienated or bored.

The first composition, "Ego Trip," by double degree sophomore Ez Weiss, was one of the evening's finest. The medium-up tempo funk tune for septet was intelligently written and solidly performed. Centering around a very melodic head with tight ensemble transitions between solos, "Ego Trip" started the evening with the right foot, with noteworthy solos from double-degree sophomore trombonist Andy Hunter and conservatory sophomore Kelly Roberge.

"Bohemian Afterlife," a ballad by senior Evan Green, was next on the program. The ballad yielded a soulful solo by Green at the piano, and though the other improvisations were bland, the piece was mature and well performed. Conservatory senior drummer Micha Patri played with a great deal of sensitivity and good taste.

The next two compositions, "Like Something Out of Nature," by double-degree senior guitarist Chris Parrello, and "Philo," by conservatory junior bassist Matthew Mueller, had their shortcomings. "Like Something Out of Nature" was a medium tempo tune that, though sparse and somewhat flat, had a very distinct texture and highlighted the spirited improvisation of sophomore saxophonist David Fishkin. Mueller's composition, in which somewhat abstract rubato sections were alternated with hard swinging medium tempo ones, lacked overall cohesion. With this said, however, Mueller's dexterous soloing on this tune was some of the most memorable of the evening.

Conservatory sophomore Wally Scharnold's composition "QXP13 Space Modulator," employing electric bass and guitar, occupied a musical ground between noisy mod-rock and movie chase music. The composition, with its many disjointed and repetitious parts was premiered by performers whose giggling, immature stage presence made the piece very hard to interpret as anything other than a joke.

"Without You," by conservatory sophomore trombonist Andy Hunter, was the gem among the many ballads of the night. It was performed with a great deal of conviction and musical sense by the composer but, regrettably due to its placement in the concert, it was delivered to a tired audience.

"Tattoo #1," by conservatory junior drummer Brian Chase was an interesting composition scored for three saxophones, bass and drums, and perhaps the most avant-garde of the evening. The head contained some very interesting textures and, while the "outness" of the tune grew tiresome and seemed inaccessible to the audience, the drumming of Chase, was exceptionally creative and energetic.

Last of the night, a programmatic dedication to public school shootings in Jonesboro, AR, was another of Ez Weiss' pieces, titled "Jonesboro." The introduction to the piece, a quote of "The Star Spangled Banner," was perhaps slightly clich�d. This was soon forgotten when the ensemble came in with a very evocative and fresh sounding arrangement of an up-tempo minor tune on which double-degree junior saxophonist Tom Bencivengo delivered incredible soloing.

Weiss' work was solid and straight ahead, and a very positive conclusion to the somewhat incomprehensible abstraction of the concert. While the actual playing by jazz students was generally good, the evening fell far short of premiering tomorrow's standards.