Bakersfield College’s Jazz Small Groups concert in the Fireside Room Nov. 30 had a mixture of original music written by students, jazz standards and traditional African rhythms being performed.
Some members of the first group included Jo-El Patterson on bass, Chris Borbon on drums, Paula Shankle on electric guitar and Joshua Lange on alto saxophone, and they performed three standards, or jazz covers. The first was by John Coltrane, the second was a bossa nova song from Freddy Hubbard titled “Little Sunflower,” and the last was “Watermelon Man” by Herbie Hancock, for which trombone player Walt Wortendyke was brought in.
The second group, composed of Travis Embree on trumpet, Bobby Graves on baritone saxophone, Jonathan Martinez on drums, Nathan Martinez sitting in on bass, George Santos on trumpet and piano and Johnny Mendez on electric and acoustic guitar, wrote and performed four original songs never performed in front of a live audience. First, they played a composition titled “Firehawk,” then another called “Autumn Leaves,” which had a very Latin sound. The next song was untitled, had a funk-styled polyrhythm, and only included the rhythm section.
According to Embree, the final song, “Beautiful Chaos,” was the most difficult to write, as the group was requested to write the piece. “Anytime you’re told to write a song, you don’t know where to start,” said Embree.
The last group performed two original songs written by piano player, percussionist and composer Jordan Herbst. “Walk on Pioneer Drive” was named after a street in Bakersfield, while Herbst emphasized that the rhythm in his “Mellow D” was “the most important thing in this tune.”
At the end, performers in the first and third groups came together to perform two songs accompanied by BC jazz instructor Kris Tiner.
The first was a mixture of two traditional African songs: “Miato Able Mal,” originally a vocal arrangement, and “Afa,” an ancient African rhythm, played by Borbon on the drum set and a bell called a gankogui, Anthony Rodriguez on a drum called a kidi and Herbst on a shaker-type instrument called an axatse. All of the African percussion instruments hail from Ghana.
The final song at the performance was called “A Call for All Demons” by Sun-Ra, a jazz musician who believed he was an alien from outer space. For this, Herbst moved to piano while Rodriguez continued performing on the kidi. The song concluded with the horn section performing solos all at once.
Originally, the concert was going to be a Christmas recital, but when students came in with original music, the night’s format was retooled.
In the end, Tiner felt that the original music “carried the show.” “I like playing original music,” said Tiner. “When people are playing other people’s music, they have to live up to it.” With original music, explained Tiner, “you’re inventing it as you’re performing.”