ARTS

Students salute a Jazz Master

Tribute to Ellington on occasion of his hundredth birthday

by Abby Person

Returning students and townspeople packed Finney Chapel Feb. 4 to lend an ear and a hoof to some of the brightest jazz musicians at Oberlin. Senior Kevin Louis, junior Farnell Newton and Faculty in Residence Adenike Sharpley directed a salute to Duke Ellington this Winter Term, collecting an ensemble of jazz elites and supplementing them with singers and dancers from the college and town.

The tribute was sponsored by the Jazz Studies Department and the African American Studies Department and reflected the interests of both those departments. The event coincided with African American History Month, and featured an array of songs by Ellington. All of the songs on the program were arrangements of Ellington tunes that had either been very popular or critical in the development of the musician. The first piece, "Cotton Tail," was tight and fun, as was "Caravan" which came much later in the program. The two were unique, though, because they were sans the dancers and singers who were unarguably under-trained performers.

From the beginning, the spirit of the concert rested in the audience. Boisterous and supporting, spectators weren't complacent to sit quietly in the pews. At times, cheers became jeers though, adding an unfortunately silly feel to the evening. A narrator introduced each piece with historical information about Ellington's life in celebration of his 100th anniversary, and his relatively serious speeches became the butt of rolling laughs throughout the audience that set me on edge. It felt a bit like a middle-school auditorium with the popular kids snickering at the science dork inviting his friends to a slumber party.

Despite this selective rudeness on the part of some audience members, the show was entertaining. It maintained a middle-school feel, though, with its rotating talent-show motif. The second piece, "Satin Doll," introduced first year Dominique Atchison and junior Rashida Bumbray to the stage. Atchison was decked out like a satin doll should be and held the microphone like a veteran. Though her first few bars were noticeably nervous, she warmed up to the stage by the end of the piece.

Bumbray was a crowd pleaser with her hoofing routine. She and junior Adam Faulk on drums were the heart beat of the piece, and Bumbray seemed to thrive in her live performance all evening.

In "In A Mellow Tone," Bumbray and Faulk were dueling for dominance in the rhythm section, and from the sound of the crowd, Bumbray won.

"Sophisticated Lady" summoned up the highlight of the evening: senior Chantal Ross. Her deep, luxurious voice was a real surprise, and her performance of one of Ellington's most famous hits is probably still stuck in a lot of heads.

The rest of the program went like clockwork. Ross' singing of "Just Squeeze Me" was another highlight as she incorporated a delightful theatrical angle into the piece.

The middle-school feel of the evening culminated, appropriately enough, in "Duke's Place" when students from Langston Middle School joined the band and danced. The gawkiness of middle-schoolers is always a little painful, but these kids seemed to be having a lot of fun in the spotlight and boosted the show's energy to top of the night.

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Copyright © 1999, The Oberlin Review.
Volume 127, Number 13, February 12, 1999

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