The Gustavus Jazz Lab Band, Dave Stamps, director
The Jazz Studies Program at Gustavus Adolphus College will unveil changes to its program this weekend with two concerts featuring new faces and projects within the Department of Music. Jazz studies director Dave Stamps will open the Sunday, November 15 concert schedule at 1:30 p.m. as he leads the Gustavus Jazz Lab Band and the new Gustavus Vocal Jazz Ensemble in a performance in Björling Recital Hall. Long-time saxophone instructor John Engebretson will assume a new role as Director of the Adolphus Jazz Ensemble and joins newcomer Donnie Norton in the 3:30 p.m. concert in Björling with performances by A Jazz and a number of Gustavus Jazz Combos. Tickets are not required for Sunday’s concerts which are free and open to the public.
The newly formed Gustavus Vocal Jazz Ensemble will open their debut concert at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday under the direction of Dave Stamps. The nine-voice group will perform Father, Father, a Kerry Marsh arrangement of Laura Mvula and Steve Brown’s tune, and the Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer standard That Old Black Magic. The Gustavus Jazz Lab Band, now in its 46th season, and 2nd-year Director Dave Stamps will then move to the Björling Recital Hall stage for its fall concert. The program Stamps has selected for Sunday includes jazz standards A Flower is a Lovesome Thing by Billy Strayhorn, They Can’t Take That Away From Me by George and Ira Gershwin, and Quincy Jones’ arrangement of Don Gibson’s classic I Can’t Stop Loving You. G Jazz will also be performing some lesser-known works like Bill Holman’s Any Dude’ll Do and Told You So, and Pearl by Wil Swindler, and others.
At 3:30 p.m., five newly-formed jazz combos will perform on the Adolphus Jazz Ensemble’s fall concert. The combos are directed and coached by jazz saxophone instructor Donnie Norton and jazz studies director Dave Stamps. The Gustavus Jazztet will start the afternoon concert with How Insensitive by Antonio Carlos Jobim and There is a Good Reason, Probably by the combo’s bassist, Connor Dufault ’16. The Red, Yellow, Blue and Green Combos, directed by Donnie Norton, will follow with a variety of works by jazz composers such as Charlie Parker, Thelonius Monk, Miles Davis and Sonny Rollins. This program includes There Will Never Be Another You, All of Me and Perdido. Director John Engebretson will then bring the Adolphus Jazz Ensemble to the stage for Alright, Okay, You Win by Sid Wyche and Mayme Watts and will continue with works by Sammy Cahn, James Van Heusen, and Horace Silver before concluding with Charlie Parker’s Yardbird Suite.
Sunday’s jazz concerts at Gustavus will begin with the Gustavus Vocal Jazz Ensemble and the Gustavus Jazz Lab Band at 1:30 p.m. The 3:30 p.m. concert will include the Adolphus Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Combos. Both performances will take place in Björling Recital Hall and are free and open to the public.