The cool sounds of jazz
by Annette Germinario, feature editor

     
      It is Monday night in the jazz lab studio on South Campus. Rick Stitzel stands before a group of eager singers who are ready to swing and scat.

      His right hand holds his French Besson trumpet, his left reaches down to the piano keys and plays the opening chord for My Foolish Heart.

      The singers breathe life into the chord and keep it going. It swells.

      “Ah, just listen to that,” Stitzel says, with his head raised and his eyes closed.

      The singers pause and appreciate the moment.

      In the presence of a musician and instructor passionate about the jazz genre, one cannot escape the charisma of such moments.

      What goes into producing a good jazz sound runs the gamut from the ridiculous to the sublime ... from unleashed improvisational scat to the blissful resolve of a minor chord.

      Stitzel's arrangement of My Foolish Heart, a ballad in the dance-swing style, is one of six songs to be performed by the Jazz Singers in a concert Tuesday, Nov. 21, at 7:30 p.m. in the recital hall.

      The program will also feature the Jazz Lab Band. Some members of the band will share the spotlight with the singers for several numbers. Stitzel also will play solo trumpet.

      Some of the songs feature scat and pop solos. A Kirby Shaw arrangement of Undecided will feature scat singing by Michael McDermott. He also solos in a Trickle, Trickle arrangement that was recorded in the 1970s by The Manhattan Transfer. McDermott, was last seen on a TCC stage in last year’s Opera Workshop performance of Mozart’s The Magic Flute.

      Operator, another Shaw arrangement, features Sonia Joubert’s flexible and earthy voice. Joubert’s jazz influences go back to age 7. That’s the earliest she can remember sneaking into the room where her father kept his record collection.

      “In that room I would put on daddy’s shades and listen to his music. I would become Billie Holiday or Sarah Vaughan,” she said.
Joubert has studied voice at TCC and said most of her singing experience comes from church. She is also a featured singer with the Jazz Lab Band.

      As for the group dynamics, the reach is to produce a blended sound—a smooth-as-glass sound. Serious voice students are challenged to “dump the vibrato” when they enter the room. Those accustomed to solo performance must switch gears and listen to others closely to create a unified, one-voice effect. When it works, it’s “bonding” at its best.

      Stitzel imparts his stylistic interpretation on each song. The group may be directed to “hold,” “fall off,” “shake” or “cover” for optimal dynamic contrast.

      One student equates a sheet of jazz music to a Shakespeare play.

      “The Bard just wrote the words and gave no stage direction, no help with what actors might do visually to present his words. This gives a director great flexibility to be creative and dynamic,” the student said.

      Stitzel was inspired by the University of North Texas Jazz Singers, which he calls “the best collegiate jazz vocal group in the country.” He thought a choir singing various eras of jazz would be something students would enjoy. He hopes the group, now in its third year, will continue to be an entity.

      Joan Scott also saw the UNT Jazz Singers not too long ago. She was impressed with what she saw and heard. “That’s what I want to do when I grow up. I’m gonna do that; it sounds like fun,” she said.

      Since that time, she has joined the Jazz Lab Band and Jazz Singers. She is right. Ask anyone in the group about their Monday nights, and they will say they are having fun.