Jazz Band Swings into spring at Ochre Court

By: Kali Lamparelli
Posted In: News

The Great Hall of Ochre Court came alive with swing dancing and the strains of Duke Ellington Friday night as the Newport Community Jazz Band and Jazz Ensemble took center stage for their spring concert.

“The music (made) me want to pirouette all over Ochre Court,” said Salve Regina sophomore Daryl Ward, who had come to watch her boyfriend play drums.

The concert began as the late-afternoon sunlight faded into the colors of the sunset around Ochre Court. Children, parents, professors and student performers carefully stepped into the great marble halls of Ochre Court. About 150 attended. Parents and students filled the black cushioned chairs on the first floor of Ochre Court. Others traveled up to the second floor to get a better view of the musicians

After an off-key warm up, director Peter Davis stepped in front of the ensemble, and cast a spell over Ochre Court with the refreshing sounds of the spring season.

The Symphonic band played difficult pieces such as “God of Our Fathers,” “Choral Prelude,” “Theme from “Schindler’s List,” “Selections from Second Suite for Military Band in F Major,” “Fantasia on the ‘Dargason'” and “A Mexican Folk Song Symphony for Concert Band.”

“I am here to enjoy the wonderful sounds of Jazz,” said freshman Ashley Bernot, who called her mother in New York on her cell phone and let her listen in on the sounds of jazz.

The Jazz Ensemble and Vocal Quintet consisting of Andrea Lawrence, Jocelyn Pucci, Elizabeth Calabrese, Erik Sperl and Don St. Jean gave an upbeat performance of Duke Ellington’s “It Don’t Mean A Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing).” Several children danced with their parents in a delightful burst of swing-dancing as did some Salve Regina University musicians on the second floor of Ochre Court.

The concert band practices every Monday during the semester for two hours. The Jazz band holds practices on Tuesday evenings for and hour and a half. Long weekends cut into this semester’s practice time.

According to Emma Hookway, a sophomore music major, “La Fiesta Mexicana” was the most difficult because it was a higher level of music. The rhythms were a lot more difficult to put together. “The band has come a long way from what it used to be and we played some of our most challenging musical compositions this semester,” Hookway said.”We are proud of our accomplishments”