Rosalia swings to jazz classics with Spokane Jazz Orchestra
The Rosalia High School gym was swinging last week to the sounds of Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Woody Herman and other greats being performed in joint concert by the Spokane Jazz Orchestra and the Rosalia High School Jazz Ensemble.
The concert, under the shared direction of SJO music director Dan Keberle and Rosalia High School music director Brian Comstock, was part of the SJO’s “We Came to Play” program, underwritten by The Spokesman-Review.
The March 13 performance was the latest in the “We Came to Play” series which has been part of musical education and performance programs at regional high schools for nearly a decade. SJO musicians spend a day at the chosen schools, working with student musicians in clinics, then doing free community performances in the evening.
In last week’s performance, the Rosalia Jazz Ensemble opened the show with fine stylings of jazz classics including Duke Ellington’s “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing), and Chuck Mangione’s “Land of Make Believe.” The student performance was followed by SJO’s renditions of “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” “Perdido,” and “Tall Cotton.” The band was joined midway through its performance by vocalist Charlotte Carruthers for “Blue Skies,” “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” and “It’s Almost Like Being in Love.”
The concert closed with an encore performance featuring the orchestra and ensemble in joint concert for an unrehearsed performance of Woody Herman’s theme, “Woodchopper’s Ball.”
Members of the Rosalia High School Jazz Ensemble include: saxophonists Clarisa Harston, Michelle Maley Danielle Kuhn, Megan Brown, and Tyler Wall; trumpeters Megan Kimberling, Liz Gelhaus, Erin Buchholtz, and James Mills; trombonists Jared Mills, Michelle Peterschick; and Jim Maley; rhythmists, Ashley Peterschick, Christina Peterschick, Reed Harston, and Jim Maley. Spokane Jazz Orchestra members performing at the concert were: saxophonists Chris Moyer, Dan Carlson, Gary Edighoffer, Sparky LaPlante, and Craig Landron; trumpeters, Terry Lack, Andy Plamondon, Keith LaMotte, and Craig Volosing; trombonists Dave Stultz, Tom Molter, Melinda Keberle, and Bill Foster; and rhythmists, Brent Edstrom, Brian McCann, Nick Herman, and Scott Jones.