The Buskirk-Chumley Theater opened its doors Monday night to an evening of big band jazz music, presented by the Natalie Boeyink Jazz Ensemble. Jacobs School of Music students’ instruments bellowed and roared over classics such as “Night and Day” by Cole Porter and “A Night in Tunisia,” by Dizzy Gillespie.
The music school’s big band ensembles are a year-long requirement for students in the jazz studies program. It is usually at this time of the year that many of the bands complete their first major performances.
Natalie Boeyink is an associate professor of music for jazz studies at Jacobs and a director of one of the big band ensembles in the jazz studies program. Boeyink was raised in Bloomington and has returned multiple times in her career to complete her doctorate and now to teach as an assistant professor.
Boeyink said leading and conducting bands in her hometown was truly a meaningful experience for her.
“Being able to not only serve the institution that really molded me as a musician and a teacher,” Boeyink said. “But to serve my community again and to get involved with what's happening locally on the jazz scene.”
One of the less common songs featured in the performance was “Bud and Bird” by Gil Evans, which was originally composed to include non-traditional jazz instrumentation such as a French horn and flugelhorn.
“I think we're going to have a couple things that the normal jazz audience for our concerts probably hasn't heard before, certainly in a live setting,” Boeyink said.
Boeyink was most excited to hear Dizzy Gillespie's “A Night in Tunisia” performed by the band, which was the concert’s closing song. It featured freshman Jozlyn Schwartz providing the iconic opening to the tune on trumpet and freshman Luca Cavalletti following that performance on alto saxophone with a bebop-inspired improvised solo.
"(It) is not only an audience favorite, but usually a favorite for the people who get to play it,” Boeyink said. “It's in this Cubop style, combining Cuban rhythms and jazz language and bebop.”
The concert featured a few tunes that weren’t typical in a big band setting. For example, in highlighting Indigenous Peoples Day, the band performed “Blues in the Closet” by Native American double bassist and composer Oscar Pettiford.
“Blues in the Closet” featured IU freshman Jake Kortepeter on bass. Kortepeter was tasked with embodying Pettiford for his first concert in the jazz studies program.
“It was cool to channel Pettiford,” Kortepeter said, “It’s been a great start to my career at Indiana.”
The ensemble also featured the special inclusion of vocalist and jazz studies master’s student, Dana Badcock. Boeyink said it was a good challenge for the band to learn how to play with vocalists without overpowering them. When performance time came, the ensemble gave Badcock plenty of room to sing.
Badock was grateful for the faculty members in the program who attended all the concerts to support the students, even if it was a random Monday night.
“I think we have the best teachers in the world,” Badock said. “To me, the teachers aren’t only skilled, they are also truly invested in their students.”
During the performance, almost every student in the ensemble was given the opportunity to complete improvised solos. Both drummers completed solos over songs “Bud and Bird” by Gil Evans and “Blues in the Closet” by Oscar Pettiford.
Audience member and jazz studies student Carson Hoberty, said his favorite song of the night was hard-bop style “Dot Dere” by Bobby Timmons.
“I really liked Dot Dere,” Hoberty said. “It was fun to listen to, and the trumpet lines were nuts.”
Throughout the semester, Jacobs will feature the ensembles and combos of its jazz studies program at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, free of charge, for the Bloomington community to enjoy. The Natalie Boeyink Jazz Ensemble will hold its next performance Nov. 20 at the Musical Arts Center on campus.
