It took less than 30 seconds for Crestview High School's jazz ensemble to get into Larry Barton’s “Abracadabra” for a standing-room-only audience to forget teenagers were playing.
The kids’ professionalism and mastery of their material wowed attendees during a Friday night performance that contained outstanding solos, including a surprise vocal.
See photos from the jazz ensemble's Feb. 20 concert>>
Several students got in the spotlight, including sax player Coltin Fortner, who triumphed, whether swinging Warriors Hall on Henry Mancini’s “Peter Gunn Theme” and Dave Brubeck’s “Blue Rondo ála Turk,” or getting mellow on Mack Gordon’s “At Last.”
That tune, which Etta James made famous, found Coltin sharing the spotlight with a gorgeous vocal by Elizabeth Dunn. She also did a rich vocals on the Brothers Gershwin standards, “Someone to Watch Over Me” and “Summertime."
Her dad, band director Jody Dunn, surprised the crowd with his silky vocal on Kurt Weill’s “Mack the Knife,” for which the ensemble performed the arrangement made famous by Bobby Darin.
FOCUSED ON THE MUSIC
For the evening’s finale, another memorable solo awaited as Pablo Ranlett-Lopez was turned loose on Louis Prima’s “Sing, Sing, Sing,” made famous by Benny Goodman.
Pablo’s proud mom, Carmen Lopez, said when her son starts drumming, his focus slips deeply into music. “It’s almost like he transports,” she said. “The minute he starts playing, in the house, on the stage, he goes somewhere.”
For the student musicians, the concert — a rare opportunity to perform a professional gig — offered valuable performance experience.
“It’s pretty nerve-wracking at first, but once you get over it, it’s a blast,” sophomore trombonist Quinn Stegner said. “It’s a lot of fun. It’s really great to take the stuff we learn in class and put it together.”
“It’s always fun. I love doing gigs,” pianist and senior DJ Stewart said. “But this was the first one people had to pay for.”
GREAT FOOD
Crestview High's culinary arts students produced good eats under instructor Chef Chuck Tingle's direction as theycatered the concert.
“(We'd) been preparing all week,” junior Kyler Young said. Doing a professional catering job proved more challenging than classroom work, he said. “It’s harder, but I like to work under pressure,” he said before replenishing a platter of deviled-egg mousse with pickled shrimp.
Organizers from Friends of the Arts were delighted with the unexpectedly large turnout, which required more chairs to be placed. Though receipts from remote sales around town were still being counted, nearly 200 attendees raised an estimated $2,000 for the Big Red Machine’s uniform fund.
FOTA President Rae Schwartz, Tingle and Dunn agreed to pursue making the catered concert an annual event.
Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes at brianh@crestviewbulletin.com, follow him on Twitter @cnbBrian or call 682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: SRO crowd gives ‘thumbs up’ for Crestview High jazz ensemble (PHOTOS, VIDEO)