"Gabriel Evens, the composer commissioned, joined the faculty of the University of Louisville in 2016, and teaches piano, composing and arranging as part of the Jamey Aebersold Jazz Studies Program. His Run For It for orchestra and jazz combo is an eight-minute, through-composed piece that doesn’t give the orchestra much more than background chords and flourishes, with little thematic development. It starts with an energetic statement (complete with ride cymbal) from the orchestra and combo, with sounds hinting at film scores and symphonic jazz, laying a canvas for the U of L Student Jazz Ensemble to improvise over. After each soloist’s allotted time, Run For It comes to an abrupt halt through a surprising coda.
It turns out “The Jazz Influence” concept was conceived with a broad vision of not just how traditional jazz has melded with the “classical” genre, but how experimental jazz has also played a role in the development of American classical music. I’d go further and say this concert was more about how classical music (contemporary styles) has infiltrated the jazz universe, more than the other way around."
Daniel Gilliam/wfpl.org
Daniel Gilliam is program director of 90.5 WUOL (Louisville Public Media), he leads the Concert Talks before the Louisville Orchestra concerts, and is a composer.
This article was first published on Classical Voice North America.
