Concert to raise funds for annual UM jazz festival

by Jessica Stugelmayer | March 5, 2010 | Montana Kaimin

Eden Atwood may be more used to performing at jazz clubs in Tokyo and Seattle, but she will bring her sultry voice to Missoula, combining with local pianist David Morgenroth and the University of Montana jazz band in a benefit concert tonight for the Buddy DeFranco Jazz Festival.

Thirty years is a span of time longer than most university students have been alive, but it is how long the Buddy DeFranco Jazz Festival has been taking place at UM, and for the first time the UM jazz band is having to fundraise for the event.

Senior Chris Hanson has been a member of the band since he auditioned his freshman year. He played trumpet in the band for two years before switching to the drums, which he plays now. He says this swap was because of his change from a music education major to a percussion performance major.

“I was a jack of all trades and a master of none,” Hanson said.

He said this concert is unlike any he has ever played before. The band will be supporting the melodies of Atwood rather than playing instrumental music. Hanson said the band toured in January and has been rehearsing for this performance since then. 

“It’s been great,” Hanson said. “A ton of work, but it’s a lot of fun.”

Director Lance Boyd has seen the band progress from a casual, once-a-week gathering of community members and students to the the program it is today. He started teaching at UM in 1968 and began a jazz band and the annual jazz festival within 12 years.

Boyd said the program now comprises three bands, five combos and several courses. He added that students in the band receive credit for their participation, but jazz has yet to be a major, something he hopes to amend very soon.

Jazz became a part of Boyd’s life when he was a student at the University of Minnesota in the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. He said jazz got him through school, describing himself as a “gigging musician.”

“I played weddings, dances, boat shows and jazz clubs to make money,” Boyd said.

It is no wonder that Boyd’s love of jazz followed him to UM, or that he subsequently began the jazz band and the Buddy DeFranco Jazz Festival. The festival is usually in April and includes two nights of jazz concerts with big-name artists and university students melding their talents to put on a one-of-a-kind show. 

However, the jazz festival goes beyond staging concerts and invites high school jazz bands to campus for two days of adjudication, where bands are judged by professional musicians and university professors. The UM jazz program will also hold workshops. 

Boyd said that other than one benefit concert in 2007, this is the only concert the band has performed to raise money. He said many organizations throughout the community and the University are cinching their belts as budgets keep getting smaller and smaller.

“Funds are drying up and many of us are facing huge cutbacks,” Boyd said.

The money raised from the concert will go to transportation, lodging, artist fees and the usual expenses incurred when putting on an event like the festival, Boyd said.  He hopes to have a crowd of 800 to 1,000 people.

“Anywhere around there would be a great turnout,” he said.

The concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the University Theater next to the School of Music on campus. Ticket prices are $20 for general admission and $15 for students and seniors.

Boyd said the crowd will be pleased and even hinted at some unexpected twists.

“There are surprises we have to keep under the lid until then,” he said.

.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

This story has been viewed 411 times.