Spring Break
Jazz singers to perform with alumni
Andrew McLemore
Issue date: 11/30/07 Section: NEWS
NT Jazz Singers I will share a concert with jazz vocal professor Rosana Eckert and jazz vocal graduate Alison Wedding at 8 tonight in the Murchison Performing Arts Center.
After many audience requests for a larger-scale concert, jazz vocal and arranging professor Paris Rutherford decided to expand the normal one-hour concert the Jazz Singers give each semester to include solo performances and duets from Eckert and Wedding.
Eckert, who studied jazz singing at NT with Wedding, said Wedding was one of her "biggest, earliest influences." The two performed together for the first time in February 2007 at an NT jazz vocal forum. Rutherford enjoyed the pairing so much he decided to include it in the Jazz Singers I concert.
Eckert said the audience was impressed when she and Wedding performed a duet completely improvised and a cappella (without instrumental accompaniment).
"We just closed our eyes and told Alison to start," Eckert said.
Eckert and Wedding plan on repeating that feat at tonight's show.
"It will be an incredible concert," said Rutherford, who directs Jazz Singers I.
Eckert lives in Dallas, where she spends time doing studio work and playing regularly with her quintet in clubs, bars and music venues. She is a published composer and arranger and in high demand across the country as a clinician for jazz festivals and conventions.
An experienced composer herself, Wedding was one of the first three graduates of the NT jazz vocal program. Her debut album The Secret consisted of 15 of her original songs that music critic Adrian Jackson described as "less overtly jazz-oriented … it confirms her reputation as a jazz singer of genuine talent." Wedding now lives in New York, where she performs with her quintet.
Rutherford said he is excited about the more forceful approach that Jazz Singers I will be taking with its material.
"It's hard-hitting, pushy and harmonically aggressive," Rutherford said.
Eckert wrote the lyrics for an adapted version of a big band tune called "Gentle Piece" that Jazz Singers I will perform at tonight's concert. Rutherford said it is a good example of the group's new style.
"They are some of the most beautiful lyrics I've ever heard in my life," Rutherford said. "I'm very excited about it."
An ensemble of 14 voices and a four-member rhythm section, Jazz Singers I is the top vocal ensemble at NT and requires auditioning each semester. The group's latest album In Case You Missed It will go on sale for the first time at tonight's concert. The group's program tonight will include music composed or arranged by NT students Taku Saito, Chris Villanueva and Matt Gaskins.
After many audience requests for a larger-scale concert, jazz vocal and arranging professor Paris Rutherford decided to expand the normal one-hour concert the Jazz Singers give each semester to include solo performances and duets from Eckert and Wedding.
Eckert, who studied jazz singing at NT with Wedding, said Wedding was one of her "biggest, earliest influences." The two performed together for the first time in February 2007 at an NT jazz vocal forum. Rutherford enjoyed the pairing so much he decided to include it in the Jazz Singers I concert.
Eckert said the audience was impressed when she and Wedding performed a duet completely improvised and a cappella (without instrumental accompaniment).
"We just closed our eyes and told Alison to start," Eckert said.
Eckert and Wedding plan on repeating that feat at tonight's show.
"It will be an incredible concert," said Rutherford, who directs Jazz Singers I.
Eckert lives in Dallas, where she spends time doing studio work and playing regularly with her quintet in clubs, bars and music venues. She is a published composer and arranger and in high demand across the country as a clinician for jazz festivals and conventions.
An experienced composer herself, Wedding was one of the first three graduates of the NT jazz vocal program. Her debut album The Secret consisted of 15 of her original songs that music critic Adrian Jackson described as "less overtly jazz-oriented … it confirms her reputation as a jazz singer of genuine talent." Wedding now lives in New York, where she performs with her quintet.
Rutherford said he is excited about the more forceful approach that Jazz Singers I will be taking with its material.
"It's hard-hitting, pushy and harmonically aggressive," Rutherford said.
Eckert wrote the lyrics for an adapted version of a big band tune called "Gentle Piece" that Jazz Singers I will perform at tonight's concert. Rutherford said it is a good example of the group's new style.
"They are some of the most beautiful lyrics I've ever heard in my life," Rutherford said. "I'm very excited about it."
An ensemble of 14 voices and a four-member rhythm section, Jazz Singers I is the top vocal ensemble at NT and requires auditioning each semester. The group's latest album In Case You Missed It will go on sale for the first time at tonight's concert. The group's program tonight will include music composed or arranged by NT students Taku Saito, Chris Villanueva and Matt Gaskins.
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