The lazy, hazy days of summer are over, and it’s time for a brand new season of outstanding jazz as the Georgia College & State University Jazz Band presents its fall concert, “Funkadelic.”
The band will perform at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 5, and Friday, Nov. 6, in Russell Auditorium on the Georgia College campus.
“Funkadelic” reflects a style of music in some of the more contemporary jazz arrangements and compositions usually reserved for the band’s fall concerts, said Dr. Todd Shiver, director.
These newer pieces are both exciting and challenging for band members and are high-energy crowd-pleasers.
“Traditionally we save our swing music for the spring concerts,” he said. “This year we ended up selecting several ‘funk’ style pieces for the fall concert. The jazz band swings hard, but the rhythmic challenges of this funk style of music have really kept the students on their musical toes this semester.”
The program will include original compositions like “Buffalo Wings” by Mike Carubia as well as old standards like “Getaway” by Earth, Wind and Fire, and “Pick Up the Pieces.”
“My favorite is a new Gordon Goodwin piece, ‘Hit the Ground Running,’” Shiver said. “You can imagine from the title what a challenge this is for our jazz band students.”
Shiver said the students’ favorite piece is “Tank,” the theme from a popular video game.
“Kyle Christmas, our very talented tenor sax player, likes to play this video game and actually found this arrangement of its catchy theme song,” he said. “Of course, Kyle has a big solo in this piece as well.”
The Jazz Band will introduce a new vocalist, Sarah Fender, at its fall show. Since the band’s vocalist, Laura Dees, graduated last spring, it was necessary to hold auditions for a new vocalist at the beginning of fall semester, Shiver said.
“In the past, we have searched in-house, within the walls of the music department for vocalists, but this year we advertised auditions campus wide,” he said. “We had over 20 students register to audition and we were able to narrow the group to three finalists. The three finalists auditioned by singing live with the jazz band in a rehearsal and, when all was said and done, we selected Sarah.”
Fender will perform “When I fall in Love” and Michael Bublé’s “Everything.”
Admission is $7; GCSU students are admitted free. Contact the Department of Music, (478) 445-4226.
