On Tuesday, March 14, Seattle Academy had an instrumental concert. For the second time this year, Matt Frost conducted a concert that included the Middle School Jazz Combo, Jazz Ensemble II, and Jazz Ensemble I. Dubbed “Jazz Night,” this performance was composed of twelve songs played by a total of twenty-seven students from both the Middle and Upper Schools.
The Middle School Jazz Combo kicked of the night with “Blue Monk,” by Thelonious Monk. This song was interrupted multiple times by clapping parents, teachers, fellow students, and other members of the SAAS community in the audience. This number was followed by “Yesterday,” by Lennon/McCartney, and “A Dark and Stormy Night,” which was actually written by one of the students, Henry Roseman ’22. After these first three songs, the Upper School took over.
Josh Teicher ’19 and Zach Santos-Ufkes ’18 played “Blue Bossa” by Kenny Dorham, and then were joined by the rest of Jazz Ensemble II (Sammy Ketcham ’20 and Yan Rich ’20). Together, they performed “Autumn Leaves,” by Kosma/Mercer/Prevert, and then, one of my personal favorites from the night in question, “Sweet Henry” by Swallow/Gregg. And that was just the first half of the concert!
Following an intermission, Jazz Ensemble I took the stage to perform six more songs. For two of these songs, they were joined by guest artist Thomas Marriott. He accompanied them on “Little Frances,” which he had written, and “Riding On A Blue Note,” by Duke Ellington. For a third song, “The Best Is Yet To Come,” by Cy Coleman, Nick Heymann ’18 stopped playing music and started singing, accompanying the song with outstanding vocals. Maybe he’ll do this again at other performance. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
This second “Jazz Night” was the last Upper School jazz concert at SAAS for this year. Thankfully though, Matt Frost will be returning next year. I can’t wait to see what Matt Frost has in store for his next “Jazz Night.”