UNC Jazz Band Opens concert season tonight

The stage lights are coming on and the music is starting up.

The UNC Jazz Band opens their season at 7:30 p.m. tonight in Hill Hall Auditorium with a concert featuring a wide range of jazz works and a stellar guest artist.

UNC Jazz Band is offered as a class by audition through the Department of Music and performs 10 to 12 times per year.

With many weathered members and section leaders returning to the band this year, expectations for this season’s first performance are high.

“I expect that our audience will be pleased with the professionalism and the level of musicianship that the group brings to the stage,” said sophomore music major Ryan Raven, a trumpet and flugelhorn player in the jazz band.

The existing connection among the instrumentalists helps create musical strength within the different sections of the band, in turn creating a stronger ensemble overall.

“At the end of last year, the band was playing the best I’ve ever heard it play since I joined it,” stated Alex Poetzschke, junior music major and alto saxophonist, in an e-mail.

 “I expect that we will pick up where we left off last year.”

The selections for tonight’s performance include a range of music, from the ’30s and ’40s big band era to the more contemporary repertoire written within the past 10 years.

Featured pieces include well-known jazz favorites “East of the Sun” and “What Is This Thing Called Love?” as well as some lesser-known blues such as “Bunch of Blues” and “Deedles’ Blues.”

The jazz band also will be performing several songs with Jim Rotondi, a solo artist and trumpet player from New York. One of the selections to be performed, “Ruth,” was written by Rotondi.

Since moving to New York City in the 80’s, Rotondi has impacted both the American and international jazz scenes through his solo albums and collaborative work with artists such as Ray Charles and Lionel Hampton.

“Jim is a terrific talent; fiery and energetic as a player,” stated James Ketch, conductor of the jazz band since 1977 and long-time friend and colleague of Rotondi’s, in an e-mail.

Rotondi will also perform with the UNC Jazz Combos at 4 p.m. Friday in Kenan Rehearsal Hall.

Opening the season with the combination of a solid group and a guest artist as prestigious as Rotondi has only heightened the UNC Jazz Band’s expectations.

“I would encourage students and faculty and staff to attend the show,” Ketch stated in an e-mail.

“Jazz music is exciting and powerful in person. It is wonderful to have a large and appreciative audience when you perform.”


Contact the Arts Editor at artsdesk@unc.edu.