Notre Dame Jazz Bands Rock the DeBartolo Center**

When Savanna Morgan begins singing a piece, a cappella no less, such as What a Friend We Have in Jesus, you know who owns the room. She generates significant energy from her robust vocal that fills up a concert hall and creates numerous goose bumps among those present. The sophomore vocal major did not disappoint the audience at the near-capacity Leighton Concert Hall on Sunday night, December 3, 2017 at Notre Dame’s DeBartolo Performing Arts Center for its annual jazz band concert.

Ms. Morgan was featured on a variety of songs ranging from soulful to big band and she nailed every note with amazing control and accuracy. She is a young Jennifer Hudson who would be terrific on one of the many reality performance shows on television (except that she is also an opera singer and may choose a path that doesn’t involve Simon Cowell, much to his loss).

The concert, deftly handled by long-time jazz professor/director Larry Dwyer and director Matt Merten, featured three bands: Jazz Band II, the New Orleans Brass Band (curiously called, “MOBB”) and Jazz Band I. All the groups featured Notre Dame students, many of whom are in the marching band. Very few of the students major in music. The respective bands only meet one time a week to rehearse. Despite the limited time that the students are able to invest in their jazz studies, the performances were no less entertaining than if presented by professional musicians. Considering that most of the student musicians left the concert to go prepare for finals in subjects ranging from computer science to microbiology to liberal arts makes the performances even more impressive.

Jazz Band II displayed its ability to tackle a variety of genres ranging from big band tunes from Count Basie, The Second Time Around, to a hard bop standard, and perhaps the best named piece of the night, by pianist Horace Silver, Filthy McNasty, to a more modern piece by Chick Corea, Elektric City. Sam Porter, on piano, managed the keys with a delicate touch paying special attention to the dynamics of a song. Chiara Bangor-Giorgio, a vocalist, was, like Ms. Morgan, a gem on vocals. She demonstrated a rich and textured tone that was a pleasure to absorb. Jazz Band II played a solid set that pleased the audience and left them wanting more.

Speaking of wanting more, MOBB played a mere three “New Orleans-ified” pieces, but they were killer: the above-referenced, What a Friend We Have in Jesus/I’ll Fly Away, which was arranged by The Dirty Dozen Brass Band in 2004. Aside from Ms. Morgan’s stunning vocal, noted above, trumpeter Jack Wurzer, raced through arpeggios during a solo while barely stopping for a millisecond to catch his breath. He still managed to maintain a great tone that filled the concert hall as if Miles Davis himself was present. The second piece, Ruler of My Heart, was another Dirty Dozen chart that was more than ably handled by vocalist Ms. Morgan with an inspired solo by Patrick Kollman on alto sax. Finally, MOBB member and trumpeter supreme, Tom Kane, arranged a version of The Chicken that became a jazz standard of the prodigious electric bass player, Jaco Pastorius. The Chicken had an aggressive tempo with a sufficient sprinkling of funk, which would have made the late, great Jaco smile.

Jazz Band I comfortably played through six pieces from the standard jazz pedagogy that, like Jazz Band II, covered a range of styles and offered something for everyone. Sunny, a piece recorded by Frank Sinatra with Duke Ellington’s Orchestra on their 1967 seminal album, Francis A. & Edward K., was aptly covered by this group with Ms. Morgan on vocals, and improvised solos by Tom Kane on trumpet and, separately, Ryan Boyle on Trombone. The classic, On Green Dolphin Street, featured a well presented piano solo by John Kang, as well as another trumpet solo by the immensely talented Tom Kane, who was apparently born with jazz scales embedded in his gray matter.

Jazz Band I has no obvious weakness and will only become “tighter” as they are able to focus more on playing jazz rather than blowing (and torturing) their chops on marching band music. The band is loaded with talent ranging from two terrific trumpet soloists, the above-mentioned Mr. Kane and Jack Wurzer, a very efficient and effective rhythm section that maintains a consistent beat and Ms. Morgan on vocals.

The next performance for all of these groups is the annual Collegiate Jazz Festival on February 23-24, 2018. Try to catch them if you can. You will be transported to a day and age when big bands and bop ruled the music scene.

**By way of disclosure, the author’s son, Patrick Falvey, plays percussion in the New Orleans Brass Band and Jazz Band I.