The campus’s ongoing Clare College Jazz Concert Series continues this upcoming week, with saxophonist Andy Middleton stopping by Bonaventure during his two-week United States tour.
This Monday, Middleton, an Austria-based musician, will perform an array of jazz-infused tunes on campus, alongside Steve Rudolph (on piano) and Kieran Hanlon, a SUNY Fredonia bass instructor.
Scheduled to enliven the Quick Center for the Arts Rigas Family Theatre at 7 p.m., the group plans to play choice standards from the Great American Songbook and a number of Middleton’s original pieces, too.
“It’ll be pretty listenable stuff,” said Leslie Sabina, Ph.D, a professor of music. “It’s not going to be too way out. He’s going to do a lot of his own compositions (which probably has a lot of blues), some more modern stuff (like bebop) and, at the other end, he said he was going to play some standards…standards meaning songs from 1940s Broadway.”
Sabina, the concert series organizer, said he’s seen Middleton, a teacher at Vienna’s Music and Arts University, perform before and he is “a powerful player.” In turn, he added both community members and student musicians will be wonderstruck by Middleton’s excellence in the craft.
“He’s definitely got a lot of technique,” Sabina added. “Would I call him a virtuoso? [He’s] pretty close. He can really get around on the horn. He’s [especially] impressive if you’re a young person learning the sax.”
Jory Olson, a senior music major, said his academic focus gives him added interest in this approaching performance, and that he’s thankful for these sorts of opportunities.
“At a school where so much of the focus seems to be on programs like j/mc, Business [and] Biology…it’s both refreshing and enlightening that the arts department does such a fantastic job of holding events with such talented performers,” he said.
Olson added that these events don’t just serve those with a direct interest in performance, though.
“Any time you’re able to witness a musician perform what he or she is passionate about and worked hard to achieve is an experience that has the potential to be beneficial to anyone, not just student musicians,” he explained.
This event comes after a successful Jazz ’N’ Wings event, which took place on Oct. 20 in the Rathskeller. That informal event, featuring Sabina’s own band, kicked off the 2016-17 concert series.
The concert series began last fall, featuring two formal and two informal music-based events throughout the 2015-16 academic year, Sabina said. The Jazz N’ Wings event has served as the semesterly, informal event—offering food and conversation over live music.
So far, Sabina said the events have been met with impressive turnouts. The Sal Andolina and the BPO Big Band event last spring — returning this spring — saw fantastic attendance.
“I don’t think there were many empty seats,” Sabina said. “The Quick Center holds 320, so, a little over 300 people. [It’s] a mix of students and community people.”
Among those attendees was Leigh Simone, Ph.D., a professor of Spanish. Simone, an avid jazz listener said these concerts are “an hour that will change your life,” especially for those who haven’t heard live jazz before.
“The SBU community has access to the uniquely American music form of jazz through these performances,” she said. “It’s a sound, a vibe [and] an environment that is like no other. Jazz is a world-renowned music form that is part of the fabric of our nation. But, it also celebrates all aspects of the human condition. I love it.”
Sabina said he hopes to see this type of attendance at Monday night’s event, especially considering Middleton is visiting from abroad. Plus, Simone added, live music of this esteem is something the community shouldn’t take for granted.
“These folks don’t show up every day in departments of the size of SBU,” she said. “And, yet, we have one.”
For those interested in attending, admission to Monday’s performance — along with all other concert series events — is free of charge. Additionally, the concert series is made possible through the Keenan-Martine endowment.
mcgurllt14@bonaventure.edu
