Spring Break
Faculty Jazz honors Anita O'Day
Joshua Rice
Issue date: 11/5/09 Section: Arts
Hillsdale College's faculty jazz quintet will be giving two performances of their Tribute to Anita O'Day concert on Nov. 5 and 6. Hillsdale High School will feature the group on the evening of the fifth. The show starts at 7 p.m. with a $3 admission charge to benefit the high school's band program. College students can see the same show for free in Phillips Auditorium the following night, beginning at 8 p.m. The show is comprised of 11 songs, including jazz classics and original pieces. In addition to jazz program director Chris McCourry, playing trumpet, there are three Hillsdale faculty members in the quintet. Lecturers in music Jonathon Gewirtz and Mathew Endahl play saxophone and piano respectively. Instructor of music Eric Jones joins them on the drums. The fifth member, bass player James Ball, lives and teaches at Albion College. The five will be accompanied by sophomore vocalist Erin O'Luanaigh. The concert's focus as a tribute is due to late jazz singer O'Day's influential work.
"A good many singers have been influenced by her work," Endahl said.
According to McCourry, O'Day was one of the first jazz song stylists, and the first big band jazz singer to be recorded by Verve Records, a label that went on to record the work of the likes of Billie Holiday.
"A good many singers have been influenced by her work," Endahl said.
According to McCourry, O'Day was one of the first jazz song stylists, and the first big band jazz singer to be recorded by Verve Records, a label that went on to record the work of the likes of Billie Holiday.
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