Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 26, 1994 TAG: 9402010004
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By SETH WILLIAMSON SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
First, though the Roanoke Civic Center concert was billed as the third in the orchestra's Monday Night Classics series, the nearly full hall heard instead the Virginia Tech University Jazz Orchestra with only a sprinkling of RSO players.
Joe Kennedy Jr.'s student ensemble is a competent college-level band, but it doesn't measure up in musicianship to the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra. The rhythm section lacked the propulsiveness that a good jazz band needs, and the orchestra seemed to drag itself through too many numbers.
Second, there wasn't enough music. The first half of the concert featured barely more than 20 minutes of playing, and the second half only about 35 minutes. This simply wasn't enough entertainment for patrons who'd shelled out for full-price tickets.
The idea was a good one. The concept of an evening of big band music dedicated to the memory of the RSO's late patron Marion Via seemed to be popular with concert-goers, and I heard no purists complaining about the lack of ``serious'' music. Fans were ready and willing to applaud good solos - but there just wasn't enough good jazz on this program.
The University Jazz Orchestra kicked off the evening with its signature tune, Sammy Nestico's lush ``That Warm Feeling.'' This was followed by a polite down-tempo version of ``When You're Smiling.''
At its best, this jazz orchestra - with five trumpets, five trombones, five saxophones and a five-player rhythm section - has a luxuriant blend. Close your eyes at moments and they evoked memories of the great Kenton and Ellington organizations.
But it didn't take long before I was wishing these kids would cut loose and swing, which they did all too infrequently over the course of the evening.
John Green's classic ``Body and Soul'' featured fine tenor work from sax man Paul Viani, who is unquestionably the star of this band. But Sonny Rollins' calypso-flavored ``St. Thomas'' was a lame attempt to fly that never got off the ground.
Alto saxophonist Aimee Griffith had some good moments in ``Polkadots and Moonbeams,'' but the band didn't really begin to cook until an arrangement of Duke Ellington's ``Caravan'' - but by that time it was already intermission.
The second half was redeemed by two veteran horn men who came ready to blow. Both former RSO principal trumpeter Allen Bachelder and current principal trombonist Dayl Burnett turned in electrifying performances.
After a competent but not particularly exciting version of ``Send in the Clowns'' that featured the RSO's music director and conductor Victoria Bond on piano, Bachelder came on stage as guest soloist in Sammy Nestico's ``Feelin' Free.''
Bachelder was tremendous, moving effortlessly from rich low tones to a screaming high end that had the Civic Center audience delighted. The University Jazz Orchestra caught fire from his performance and cooked, and Bachelder brought down the house with a fine jazz cadenza at the end.
Dayl Burnett was equally effective in Tommy Wolf's ``Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most,'' featuring a lush ballad-style prelude to a wailing up-tempo second half. Burnett has gorgeous tone, enormous range and a fluent improvisational style and earned screaming applause.
Bond, Bachelder and Burnett contributed solo breaks to ``Snooze You Lose,'' and the last scheduled piece was a medley of Miles Davis classics. The evening would have been more enjoyable if it had been up to the level of the band's encore, Bobby Timmons ``Dat Dere,'' in which the group finally got down to business and did some serious swinging.
by CNB