NIC sets ‘Fall into Jazz’ concert
North Idaho College’s Music Department will present its fall concert, “Fall into Jazz,” at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 3.
The concert will be held at Boswell Hall Schuler Performing Arts Center at NIC’s main campus in Coeur d’Alene. The performance is free and open to the public.
The concert will feature music performances by Cardinal Voices directed by NIC Director of Choirs Max Mendez and the NIC Jazz Ensemble directed by NIC Director of Bands Bryan Hannaford.
Cardinal Voices will perform hits from the ‘70s, and the NIC Jazz Ensemble will play music spanning the wide jazz genre in this fall concert, which is the first concert of the Fall Semester.
In the commercial music ensemble Cardinal Voices, students focus on performance of studio-quality popular music. It provides an ensemble atmosphere with an emphasis on small group dynamics, ensemble singing and performance, solo performance, songwriting and arranging, all within versatile musical and singing styles. This course is for students interested in exploring different popular musical styles, including jazz, blues, pop, rock, folk and country.
Cardinal Voices will be performing music of the 1970s, including renditions of classics like “Jolene” by Dolly Parton, “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac and “Hooked on a Feeling” by Blue Swede. They will also perform “Time Warp” from the 1973 rock musical and 1975 film “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” along with some other well-known classics.
“There will be so much variety from the 1970s you’ll probably leave the concert as if you were in a time warp,” Mendez said.
The NIC Jazz Ensemble will kick off the concert with a jazz tune in a modified rondo form called “’Giddyup!’ by Rick Hirsch. The Jazz Ensemble will also be playing arrangements of classics like “Crisis” by Freddie Hubbard and “Invitation” by Bronislaw Kaper. “Invitation” was first used in the 1950 movie “A life of Her Own,” but it did not gain popularity until it was used as a theme song for the 1953 movie “Invitation.”
“You’ll want to hear “Bu-Yah!” by Paul Baker performed in the style of Art Blakey and Jazz Messengers inspired by the 1961 album ‘Buhaina’s Delight,’” said Hannaford.
Members of the NIC Jazz Ensemble are a blend of NIC students and community members.