{"id":1306,"date":"2014-10-02T19:00:10","date_gmt":"2014-10-02T23:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/?p=1306"},"modified":"2014-10-02T19:00:10","modified_gmt":"2014-10-02T23:00:10","slug":"centre-jazz-revamps-for-another-semester-of-swing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/2014\/10\/02\/centre-jazz-revamps-for-another-semester-of-swing\/","title":{"rendered":"Centre Jazz revamps for another semester of Swing"},"content":{"rendered":"

By BECKY FULTON –\u00a0CENTO WRITER<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Deep in the bowels of Grant Hall 113 practices a small but mighty group of musicians. The Centre Jazz Ensemble rehearses on Wednesday afternoons. Due to such a large number of musicians having graduated, the group only has seven members this semester.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a rebuilding year,\u201d Director of Centre Jazz and saxophone and clarinet instructor, Doug Drewek said. \u201cWe lost a lot of players, so we\u2019re starting from the ground up.\u201d
\nHowever, this isn\u2019t stopping the group from practicing their instruments, which include a piano, two alto saxophones, a trombone, a tuba, drums, and an electric guitar.<\/p>\n

The pieces the group will be performing are more attuned to the ability of a smaller group though still challenge them.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t do a standard repertoire,\u201d Drewek said. \u201cWe have to be creative.\u201d<\/p>\n

This creativeness takes the form of improvisation. During rehearsal, the group played a call and response with Drewek on alto saxophone while sophomore Taylor Acree provideed a steady beat on the drums.<\/p>\n

They practiced listening to each other to get a feel for how to play.<\/p>\n

Studying jazz rhythms and scales typically used in jazz made up an important component of rehearsal as the members are encouraged by Drewek to create their own licks.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy approach is a garage band style. It\u2019s really collaborative. We have such a variety of instruments. There\u2019s a wide range of skill level and backgrounds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most of the musicians in the group have not played jazz music before.<\/p>\n

\u201cI took piano lessons for ten years,\u201d junior Katie Coldiron said. \u201cI\u2019ve been devoting time to other things, but the opportunity came about to join [the Jazz Ensemble].\u201d<\/p>\n

Drewek does not mind all the differences in ability between the musicians.<\/p>\n

\u201cI enjoy challenging students,\u201d Drewek said. \u201cIt\u2019s like I\u2019ve got a box of Legos I\u2019m handing them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Drewek himself came to Kentucky in 2003 to pursue his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Kentucky. He then met Vince Dimartino who hired him to teach saxophone and clarinet at Centre College, and later was asked to direct Centre Jazz.<\/p>\n

For the Family Weekend concert, the ensemble used jazz licks that they crafted to create their piece.<\/p>\n

Centre Jazz is having a Jazz Caf\u00e9 Dec. 1 at the Combs Warehouse, an event which has seen increasing popularity in the past few years. The experience is meant to mimic a real club style event.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt keeps growing every year,\u201d Drewek said. \u201cIt\u2019s real casual and we\u2019ll have cookies and other things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Drewek hopes to draw people into the casual setting for the Caf\u00e9, and let people filter in and out while listening to the jazz music by the ensemble.<\/p>\n

\u201cJazz concerts have become more and more stuffy,\u201d Drewek said.<\/p>\n

He hopes to change the way people think about jazz concerts and music.<\/p>\n

Drewek also welcomes musicians from all backgrounds and skill levels to join the Jazz Ensemble, no jazz experience necessary.<\/p>\n

\u201cMusicians tend to work well together,\u201d Drewek said. \u201cMusic can help inspire creativity. I encourage anybody with any instrument to join.\u201d<\/p>\n

First-year student Anthony Herl has never played jazz before, but wanted to give it a try. He plays the electric guitar.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always liked jazz music,\u201d Herl said. \u201cIt\u2019ll make any musician a better player.\u201d<\/p>\n

Drewek relates playing music in a small ensemble to doing better in the classroom as well, since students learn to play in front of crowds, they feel more at ease giving a class presentation.<\/p>\n

\u201cMusic was an opportunity to expand horizons,\u201d Drewek said. \u201cIt\u2019s an opportunity for growth. We\u2019re turning weaknesses into strengths.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By BECKY FULTON –\u00a0CENTO WRITER Deep in the bowels of Grant Hall 113 practices a small but mighty group of musicians. The Centre Jazz Ensemble rehearses on Wednesday afternoons. Due to such a large number of musicians having graduated, the group only has seven members this semester. \u201cIt\u2019s a rebuilding year,\u201d Director of Centre Jazz […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arts-leisure"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1306"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1306\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}