The talents of jazz musicians such as John Coltrane and Miles Davis have been celebrated for years. At the University, many more jazz musicians are waiting for the same recognition, but they’ll have to first showcase their talents — both prepared and improvised — at the Jazz Cafe on Friday.
“The Jazz Cafe has been in existence for many years, and it’s been a showcase for our student combos,” Jazz Café faculty adviser Mike
Denny said.
The School of Music hosts the Jazz Cafe twice per term, with about half of the approximately eight combos performing at each show. Ranging in size from four to eight musicians, the groups perform traditional jazz repertoire as well as original compositions.
“We just wanted to create an environment that would be great for everyone to do this in, to perform and enjoy it in a place that’s a little more than just hanging out,” jazz studies Director Steve Owen said. “We thought it’d be a great idea for us to just go ahead and have an informal place to have our combos play on campus, so we just kind of take over a room and allow our combos to have concerts. One of the things that’s nice about it is that we have people involved in it who are very advanced players as well as some who are just starting out.”
Improvisation is an important element of jazz, and although the groups will be performing pieces composed by famous jazz musicians, including Charlie Parker, Benny Golson, Jerome Kern, Bronislaw Kaper and Davis, much of the music is created unrehearsed and on the spot.
“Improvisation is a blast. It really makes people be aware of the building blocks of music and be able to manipulate them kind of spontaneously,” Owen said. “It’s really fun to see people do it and the reason for the Jazz Cafe was to find a place to allow people to do this at all levels. It may be fun, but it’s also encouraging. Sometimes, when you’re in a concert hall, (improvising) can be kind of daunting, and we wanted it more informal than that.”
Instrumentation includes some combination of the rhythm section — piano, bass, drums and guitar — and the horn section — saxophones, trumpets and trombones. Occasionally, the combos will feature a
vocalist or violinist.
As an actual class for which undergraduate and graduate students enroll, the combos — usually led by a graduate teaching fellow or a faculty adviser — stick to the jazz they’ve been
studying all year long.
“We have some undergrads working with graduate students as performers in the ensemble, and it’s a lot looser than a recital,” Denny said. “And it’s worked out really well — we put tablecloths and candles out and serve light refreshments. We try to create a cafe atmosphere so it’s not as formal as a typical recital.”
Although the environment is that of a comfortable café, there are those times when musicians have trouble handling the pressure, especially when it comes to improvising.
“I call it the ‘Crash and Burn Phenomenon,’” Owen said. “Sometimes it’s just fun to see how these performers are going to do and if they’re going to make it through. There’s an element of danger to the whole thing. I’ve seen some really outstanding musicians get up there and then sometimes it just doesn’t click. But other times, you can get people who can really play almost beyond themselves and overall, everyone does really well.”
The music starts at 8 p.m. in room 178 of the School of Music. Tickets can be purchased at the door for
$5 general admission and $3 for
students and seniors.

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