All School Concert and Kids Improvised
Music Teacher, Rhonda Chalone really shared in the fun by scatting into the microphone and then having many spontaneous soloists in the elementary school audience/choir.
All the kids sang the melodies to the music of Duke Ellington's C-Jam Blues and a John Coltrane's modal jazz version of My Favorite Things which they had learned the week before and had the opportunity to do some call and response scat in each of their classes.
Musicians: (L-R) Rhonda Chalone, Jim Erickson, Dan Wallach, Jan Wheaton, Laurie Lang, Cliff Frederiksen, and Chris Sandoval gave a concert performance featuring the music of many jazz greats. There was also a funny and charming performance by several of the classroom teachers using puppets to act out a jazzy storybook about a scatting jazz fly.
November 5, 2017 Jam
We're having a jam session next week! The tunes are classics, and the house band are well known among Madison's jazz cognoscenti. The first featured tune is Charlie Parker's blues, "Billie's Bounce." In addition to the original by Bird (featuring Miles on trumpet and Diz on piano), you can find great versions of this number all over the place. I'm partial to a blistering performance by the duo of Johnny Griffin and Eddie Davis on Live at Minton's. During the first set we'll also play "Joy Spring," by Clifford Brown. An early version appears on Clifford Brown and Max Roach.
As usual, our house band can play these numbers and anything you'd like to bring to the jam. They're Dan Wallach (as), Doug White (pno), Ben Ferris (bs), and Devin Drobka (dr). Come on out to the Rigby on November 5 to listen to these guys warm up, then take the stage for our featured tunes and more. See you there!
Huegel Scats and Hits New Heights with the Jazz Fly in October
Performance will feature :
The Students of Huegel - group vocals
Rhonda Chalone - music teacher, pianist & story teller
Chris Sandoval- drums, The Jazz Fly
Laurie Lang - Artist in Residence, Bassist and Willie the Worm
Dan Wallach - Saxophones and Nancy the Gnat
Jan Wheaton - vocals and Scat singer
Cliff Frederiksen - vocals, scat singer and guitarist
October 15 jam
Hi all,
The jam returns on Sunday, October 15 with a distinguished house band featuring Ken Hoffman (tenor sax), Johannes Wallmann (piano), Matt Rodgers (bass), and Joey Banks (drums). This will be a fun band to jam with. They're all friendly, sympathetic educators - and they're monster players.
The band will back jammers first on "Cantaloupe Island" from one of Herbie Hancock's sixties Blue Note albums. If you don't know the original, you may recognize the piano figure as key to a hip hop song by Us3 from the nineties. The second tune is "More Than You Know," suggested by one of our house band numbers. In The Jazz Standards, Ted Gioia recommends versions from artists spanning the gamut from Benny Goodman to Sonny Rollins (with Monk in 1954 and on his own in 2009) to Joe Pass. Give 'em a listen and get ready to play.
We look forward seeing old friends and meeting new ones at the next jam on the 15th. See you there!