Swing baby swing! These cats are sounding great and the sound is big and full. Shelly Berg is directing the orchestra and his passion matches the enthusiasm of the players to make it a stage of uncompromising exuberance.

“Boom Boom” is a piece by Bob Brookmeyer and it features two freshmen on the piano; two at the same time! The pianists not only sit next to each other and play but, they also rotate over and under each other creating quite a visual display as they refuse to miss a note.

A few of the players I recognize from their performances at the LAX Westin Hotel where I host a jazz music venue every Wednesday night. In-House music in association with the Westin Hotel sponsor a program for the students to come down and play during the break of already scheduled professional performers. The Students can acquire live performance experience and get their chops workin’ in front of new audiences.

Tonight they are taking the Bovard Auditorium by storm and you can tell that Shelly Berg is proud to be out front watching, listening and leading these young cats down the jazz road of wisdom, knowledge, freedom and experience.

The production of sound and lights are always quite exquisite her at the Bovard. Fuchsia and blue lights coat the musicians with a shinny glimmering skin complimented with the smoke of dry ice for an astonishing visual.

On another piece the trombone and trumpet were featured. There were a couple of seniors who, oddly enough, thought about the instruments and stretched their creativity by separating the mouth piece and using it as its own wind instrument and then hitting it against the bell of the bone. This multipurpose use shows that these students think outside the box and that is always what jazz music needs.

There was a special guest for the evening and Ron McCurdy came out and gave Ramsey Lewis a well deserved introduction. He came out and played “Wading in the Water” with the orchestra with a big and soulful sound. The students wrote all of the arrangements for the songs and did a superb job. And, Oo-Oo child, just when you thought that things were going to get a little easier, they did when Ramsey laid down a lovely interlude to John Coltrane’s beautiful ballad , “Dear Lord”.

“Weeping Willow Tree” was the next piece and after sitting out a tune, the orchestra was ready to light it up with a bluesy medley arrangement that had you saying not only Dear Lord but, yes Lord as well. “My Sweet Embraceable You” and “Body and Soul” were classic.

Ramsey has just recently released a gospel album called “Voices”. One of his compositions, “Trees” was included even though it is actually not a gospel piece. It included some nice bowing from the bassist in perfect compliment to the flute.

The orchestra started playing a super up-tempo bluesy winner with the audience and the guitar player got all into it interjecting some self imposed improvisational licks. Ramsey responded with a quote from the great guitarist George Benson’s classic, “On Broadway” as an appreciative musical pat on the back the of the young player.

The music appealed to the gospel and blues in everyone. Ramsey and the USC Thornton Orchestra closed it out with, “Oh, Happy Day”. They all left smiling!

LeRoy Downs