Considering the amount of self-governance at the University, the strength of the jazz program should not be surprising. Jazz, with its free-flowing and improvisational style, uses musicians' self-governance and individual interpretation to blend solos and scores into something entirely unique. It may come as some surprise, though, that the Jazz Ensemble at the University is one of the lesser-attended music ensembles.
"Not a lot of people know about the instrumental ensembles since singing is big at U.Va," publicity intern Caroline Anaya said. "But jazz has such a universal sound, and the Jazz Ensemble is starting to gain more support from the U.Va. community."
The Jazz Ensemble is currently flourishing under the direction of composer and trumpet player John D'earth, who is leading the ensemble in a unique artistic direction for the upcoming concert. The concert, titled "Speaking in Tongues", is scheduled for April 18 and will feature jazz compositions played to spoken poetry. This is a technique and style D'earth is well known for, having used the poetry of University Poetry Writing Prof. Gregory Orr before.
D'earth "has a long history of translating the spoken word into jazz music." Anaya said. "The original compositions featured in this concert will give the audience a taste of two art forms. They will see how the players and the reader communicate on stage, and their creativity should lead to a very visual music experience."
This idea of jazz and poetry -- of music and its story -- lends itself particularly well to jazz, which reinvented ideas of African roots in terms of the regional experience of black Americans, fusing Caribbean, Creole and evolving American musical traditions to convey the unique conditions of black America.
"Jazz is all about emotion ... 'Telling your story,' as the old-timers would put it," D'earth wrote in the concert's press release. "It makes the music stand for something, maybe count for more." This is especially true when one takes into account poetry's relevance in the upcoming concert, which will use a piece titled "Road to Another Life" that was written and will be performed by Young Writer's Workshop Director Margo Figgins, who is also an Education School associate professor. Figgins uses her poetry to describe a treacherous journey from to Buenos Aires to escape the coup in Argentina.
The concert will also feature the poetry of former University music student Matt Wyatt, whose rhythmic and percussion-influenced poems focus primarily on drummers. This will give one of the music department's star drummers, first-year College student Jack Kilby, a chance to shine.
This concert will feature poetry read by John D'earth that was written by his brother Paul Smyth, who passed away in December 2006. D'earth will be reading three sonnets set in a piece titled Emphemera."I've tried for years to think of ways to work musically with my brother's highly formalistic poetry, because I love it and believe it can be done, even with jazz, or, especially with jazz," said D'earth in the press release. "The poem has to be notated as an integral part of the groove and of the piece, as specific as a melody, and as loose. It's 'speaking the groove', so to speak." This is emblematic of the nature of jazz, of the coming together of various styles and structures, of histories and stories. "It's the music that brings all types of people together," Anaya said.
Speaking in Tongues will be performed April 18. The tickets are $10 for general admission and $5 for students.
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