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Newport festival 'opportunity of a lifetime' for NCC jazz combo
http://heraldsun.southernheadlines.com/durham/4-1188813.cfm

By Cliff Bellamy : The Herald-Sun
cbellamy@heraldsun.com

Jul 31, 2009
http://www.nccu.edu

DURHAM -- One day this week in the band room next to B.N. Duke Auditorium, a pianist practiced rapid-fire runs, while a percussionist worked out some patterns on a drum kit. To an outsider, all of this musicianship looks and sounds effortless, but it comes from hours of practice, or what many musicians call "woodshedding."

This day, rhythm section players (bass, piano, drums, percussion and guitar), all students in North Carolina Central University's Jazz Studies Program, were doing some refining of several pieces. Ira Wiggins, director of the program, told guitarist Marc Davis to set the metronome at a rapid tempo for a run-through of "Big Bad Band," which composer Ernie Wilkins wrote for the Count Basie band. The pianist took the first chorus, and later Wiggins told the ensemble to slow the tempo a bit to work on some transitions. Later, he asked Davis to increase the tempo a few notches, but not quite at the tempo he hopes to take in performance. "We're getting there," Wiggins told the students after they finished the run-through.

The rhythm section also rehearsed David Newman's "Hard Times," and Michael Philip Mossman's "57th St. Mambo," which became an impromptu percussion ensemble piece.

This process happens every week during the school session, but what makes this rehearsal a bit different is that it is in preparation for the Newport Jazz Festival, which takes place Aug. 7-9. The NCCU Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Combo will perform on stage at the festival Aug. 8. The festival, which began in 1954, is one of the oldest and longest running jazz festivals. Rehearsals continue through next week before students board a plane and head for the festival. (Labor Day weekend, the students also get to play at the Detroit Jazz Festival.)

During rehearsal this week, students expressed both excitement and quiet professionalism when asked about playing the festival. Pianist Ryan Hanseler said the idea was "pretty surreal for me." Guitarist Davis said the students are well aware of Newport's history, and that they are going to play at the festival where "everyone who's been a legend" has performed. As Davis called out the name of one of those legends, other students chimed in with names like John Coltrane, Duke Ellington and others who made historic performances at Newport. "I definitely would say this is the opportunity of a lifetime," said percussionist Brevan Hampden, who said there are musicians in their 70s who don't get this chance.

Their excitement is tempered by a determination to play a good performance and get it right. Last year, the students played for an audience at the International Association for Jazz Education (now defunct), and Hampden said that event required the same calibre of concentration. He wants the band to "sound like we did in rehearsal" when it hits Newport. Adds Hanseler: "I realize these are some of the best guys to be playing with."

"The biggest thing I keep focusing on," said Davis, "is it's your job to touch people. ... It's our job to stick it out there and do what we do best, which is swing."

Bassist Lance Scott Jr. said he also is grateful for the opportunity, but that the reality of the festival "probably won't hit me until we're done." He adds: "This is just fun, at the end of the day."