A baby grand piano sits in the back corner of the Round in Forest Quad. Throughout the day, its ivory keys are open to the tinkering of any student, but Sunday nights are a different story.
Anthony Coniglio begins with a bebop standard on the piano, saxophonist Matthew Babineaux closes his eyes, and Olivia Martinez taps a beat against her leg when the clock strikes 9 p.m.
A band of horns, drums and violin is suddenly in full swing and delivering improvised tunes to an expectant audience in the dining hall’s weekly jazz concert.
While the Jacobs School of Music offers multiple jazz ensembles and combos for students to join, this group opts for an unconventional classroom — a stage in front of its peers.
The group, which includes non-music majors as well as jazz musicians, gives students from any background a place to play music that challenges them, Babineaux, co-founder of the group, said. By creating a performance-based experience, members learn different aspects of jazz improvisation, he said.
“Performance is probably the most essential way to learn, because jazz is a different language and aesthetic in its sensibility,” Babineaux said. “There’s more freedom for the performer to make up things as he goes along.”
But the group’s unconventionality doesn’t stop at its performance location. While traditional jazz ensembles include a set variety of instruments, members broaden this definition to incorporate different styles of sound within songs.
As a classical French horn player, Martinez said jazz improvisation isn’t a skill she would typically be taught in her academic program.
“This is a very unconventional instrument for a jazz combo, but I’m just really happy to be able to try it out,” she said. “We’re free to make mistakes here, try out new tunes and ultimately learn from our performance.”
Concerts usually begin with one musician calling out a tune and playing a few bars for the others to pick up. Next, another member counts the group in to a 4:4 tempo.
There is silence — the horn players taking a breath — and then it is broken as each musician waxes melodic to the jazz standard “Au Privave.”
After a few bars, performers get the chance to alternate short solos, using a sort of language to dictate the arrangement of the piece.
Babineaux, often the selected conductor, points at certain musicians to indicate an upcoming solo. When a solo is finished, Babineaux taps the top of his head for all musicians to join back in.
Babineaux points toward the cajón, a rectangular percussion instrument that produces sound when slapped on its sides. At this gesture, the melody stops, and it is drummer Austin Peters’ turn in the spotlight.
In a group of experienced music students, Peters automatically stands out as a sophomore finance major with an affinity for music.
“Since coming to college, especially in the business school, you never really hear music in Hodge Hall,” Peters said. “So I started the habit of walking to the south side of campus and studying in the Jacobs building just because I could hear people practicing down the hallways.”
Since meeting Martinez and joining the group, he said he takes the group’s tunes and adds a steady beat to their melodies.
Sometimes a musician will finish a solo and leave the group still playing to talk to an audience member.
Occupied by neither homework nor dinner, these listeners have turned their chairs to face the musicians. Much like the setup of a typical concert, their positioning gives a better view to their gaze and Snapchat stories.
In the front row sits freshman Rumsha Khan, who said this was her second week attending the concerts and she plans to go for the rest of the year.
“It’s a pity if anyone misses out on this talent, and they’re all such nice people, too,” Khan said. “I think it’s a blessing to go to a school where your classmates can just sit down and entertain you.”
The tune finishes and the small crowd applauds.
“Did you know that one?” saxophonist Zachary Birkenthal asks Peters.
The drummer shrugs and starts to play the next song.
