The Bovard Auditorium has been nicely remodeled. It has been some time since I have been here. I think the last time was to see Wayne Shorter. The show opened with the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Band. Six hand selected players who received a full scholarship for the jazz studies program at USC headed by Terence Blanchard.
Terence, as well Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter, who all hold positions as Artistic Director, Institute Chairman and Former Artist Director respectively, were directly responsible for choosing these six talented individuals.
Piano: Arpad Olah –
Bass: Alan Hampton –
Drums: James Alsanders –
Sax: Gilad Ronen – Falsaba
Vibes: James Westfall –
Trumpet: Dontae Winslow –
These players have the opportunity to be mastered by some of the finest in jazz. Besides those I mentioned previously, The TMJI band has also studied with the likes of Kenny Barron, Clark Terry, Charlie Haden, Lewis Nash and others.
Their sound spans from all over the globe and they are encouraged to seek out and develop their own individual sound. Each of the five pieces that were performed was composed by one of the players. Their sound is wonderful together and you can hear the direction of Terence on some of their pieces. Terence introduced the band and also came out on stage to perform on a few of the compositions.
There have been many waves of the jazz futures. These cats in the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Band are the present and future Tsunami. Right in time with the modern sounds of jazz music. These cats will certainly excel and continue to ride the jazz train into our future!
Wayne Shorter’s encore performance was also enhanced by the USC Thornton Jazz Orchestra who performed two student compositions, “The Tiger” and “Prometheus Unbound”
LeRoy Downs
