‘Fall into Jazz' concert to be performed Nov. 4
Everyone is invited to enjoy “Fall into Jazz” at North Idaho College at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 4, in the Boswell Hall Schuler Performing Arts Center. The first fall jazz concert at NIC since November 2019, “Fall into Jazz” will feature music performances by Cardinal Voices directed by Max Mendez and the NIC Jazz Ensemble directed by Bryan Hannaford.
Cardinal Voices is a commercial music ensemble featuring students focused on performing studio quality popular music. It provides an ensemble atmosphere with an emphasis on small group dynamics, ensemble singing and performance, solo performance, songwriting and arranging, all within versatile musical singing styles. This course is for students interested in exploring different popular musical styles, including but not limited to jazz, blues, pop, rock, folk and country.
In their first concert of the year, Cardinal Voices will be performing covers like “Pumped up Kicks” by Foster the People, “Roller Coaster” by Blink-182, “Zombie” by The Cranberries, and a few more innovative takes on these modern classics.
“Students take charge in Cardinal Voices,” said Professor Max Mendez. “Students seek out and conceptualize arrangements of these songs.”
For instance, the Cardinal Voicers will be performing “Roller Coaster,” recorded by Blink-182 in 2001, but they will be performing in a style similar to The Cure, a band most successful commercially in the mid-1980s.
The NIC Jazz Ensemble will be presenting a classic Bill Holman chart, “Plain Brown Wrapper” that features the tenor saxophone, piano and drums. “Plain Brown Wrapper” was recorded by the Count Basie Orchestra on the 1976 album “I Told You So.” The ensemble will also perform music from modern jazz composer Kris Berg, a favorite of Hannaford. The NIC Jazz Ensemble will also be performing “Nocturne” arranged by Chris Sharp.
“Nocturne is based on Chopin’s Nocturne in E-flat Major, Opus 9 No. 2, and Sharp reconceived it for jazz ensemble, because of its ahead-of-its-time chromatic harmonies that reflect modern jazz,” Hannaford said.
The NIC Jazz Ensemble is proud to take the audience on a musical journey that covers swing, Latin jazz, and a few musical curveballs along the way. Members of the NIC Jazz Ensemble are a blend of NIC students and community members.
The concert is free and open to the public.
Information: (208) 769-3424.
Posted: Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2021
