JSO review

Review: JSO jazz program energized by surprising source

By Terry Pow
For the Jackson Citizen Patriot
Monday, March 18, 2002 - page A-6

To my certain knowledge, jazz did not originate in the bayous of Hillsdale County, and even more certainly not in one of the most conservative colleges in the land.

Yet, life is full of surprises, as a group of Hillsdale College musicians demonstrated Saturday night when they joined the Jackson Symphony Orchestra and sound-blasted the cobwebs from the Potter Center's rafters.

My goodness, do these young Republicans swing!

Gray heads were nodding and feet tapping in the orchestra ranks as. the guests from down south ripped into a Duke Ellington medley in the first half, then returned rising from the pit after intermission with more of the good stuff.

Vocalist Britany Dixon delivered a pleasing rendition, of George Gershwin's "Someone toWatch Over Me," and there were some nifty instrumental solos from Bob Miller and Chris Kateff on tenor and alto sax, Chris McCourry on trumpet and flugelhorn, and Dan Coughlin on drums.

The JSO, under maestro Stephen Osmond, opened the evening swinging - as befits a program labeled "All That Jazz" - with a rousing piece called "Black Dragon Canyon" by Henry Wolking, chair of jazz studies at the University of Utah.

They also did a nice job with another Wolking piece, "Methenyology," a homage to the jazz musician Pat Metheny.

Opening the second half, Brent Cryderman took the podium to lead the orchestra in "El Gamino" by Dick Grove, a Los Angeles composer with a sure lyrical line that musician McCourry walked confidently with his flugelhorn.

In an evening already running long, Louis Moreau Gottschalk's "L'Union,"' a creaky and tedious piece of bombast, could have been cut from the program with no loss.

I certainly wouldn't have shed a tear, and it would have left me with some extra attentive energy to appreciate the evening's main event, Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue."

For a piece of music as big and showy as this, you need a soloist who is, well, big and showy.

David Syme fits those dimensions. He had to crank down the piano stall until he was almost sitting on the floor, and his extra musical mannerisms - the head rolled back, the hands gracefully describing circles in the air - are the hallmarks of a showman.

Happily, he's also a splendid pianist, and squeezed the last drop of drama and lyricism from Gershwin's signature work, helped by tight and focused accompaniment from the JSO.

All in all, a great evening with just one off-note.

In its century or so of existence, jazz has, grown from its AfricanAmerican origins into a universal language. It's played from South America to Japan; and it wouldn't surprise me to learn there are a few combos right now dusting off their instruments in downtown Kabul.

Even with this in mind, it seemed an unfortunate oversight by the program planners that not a single African-American soloist was on stage Saturday night to help celebrate and communicate the inimitable joy and energy of jazz.