2008 Woodie Awards
Faculty Jazz Band enthralls audience at annual gala
By: Scott Harres
Issue date: 9/20/07 Section: Lifestyle
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Around St. Louis, there are certain things a summer jazz festival is known for: was marked by fresh-brewed beer, lawn chairs, barbecue, dancing hippies and ecstatic children. Now speeding trains passing inches from the stage can be added to the list.
The seventh annual Old Webster Jazz and Blues Festival Sept. 15 provided such entertainment. Throughout the day, 10,000 patrons enjoyed local food, music and beer while invading Webster Groves Historic District at Gore and Lockwood Avenues. The Webster University Faculty Jazz Band entertained onlookers with a set that ran from 6 until nearly 8 p.m.
The band, with vocalist Debby Lennon, tenor saxophonist Paul DeMarinis, guitarist Steve Schenkel, keyboardist Carolbeth True, bassist Willem von Hombracht and drummer Kevin Gianino, delivered a steady and relaxing performance just right for the beautiful evening. The set list, compiled by DeMarinis and Schenkel, consisted of several familiar jazz tunes.
"This is the perfect atmosphere," said Dustin Row, 23, of Waterloo, Ill. "I can't think of anywhere I'd rather be right now."
Junior journalism major Evan Wintermantel was excited to see the faculty play together again.
"I've seen them in the past," he said. "The thing you have to realize is that these people are world-class musicians. I take special interest in this band because my father went to music school at Webster U., and he used to play in a band with a few of these guys."
Following up Gumbohead, a zydeco band, the Faculty Jazz Band started things out with "Bye, Bye Blackbird," a song published in 1926 by composer Ray Henderson and lyricist Mort Dixon. The crowd sang along as Lennon, who chose all the vocal selections, belted out the lyrics. The swinging beat was accented by a muted trumpet solo, contributing to the 1920s feel of the song.
They followed this tune up with the Miles Davis number "So What." This song was easy to bob along to as the bass crawled and thumped along.
The seventh annual Old Webster Jazz and Blues Festival Sept. 15 provided such entertainment. Throughout the day, 10,000 patrons enjoyed local food, music and beer while invading Webster Groves Historic District at Gore and Lockwood Avenues. The Webster University Faculty Jazz Band entertained onlookers with a set that ran from 6 until nearly 8 p.m.
The band, with vocalist Debby Lennon, tenor saxophonist Paul DeMarinis, guitarist Steve Schenkel, keyboardist Carolbeth True, bassist Willem von Hombracht and drummer Kevin Gianino, delivered a steady and relaxing performance just right for the beautiful evening. The set list, compiled by DeMarinis and Schenkel, consisted of several familiar jazz tunes.
"This is the perfect atmosphere," said Dustin Row, 23, of Waterloo, Ill. "I can't think of anywhere I'd rather be right now."
Junior journalism major Evan Wintermantel was excited to see the faculty play together again.
"I've seen them in the past," he said. "The thing you have to realize is that these people are world-class musicians. I take special interest in this band because my father went to music school at Webster U., and he used to play in a band with a few of these guys."
Following up Gumbohead, a zydeco band, the Faculty Jazz Band started things out with "Bye, Bye Blackbird," a song published in 1926 by composer Ray Henderson and lyricist Mort Dixon. The crowd sang along as Lennon, who chose all the vocal selections, belted out the lyrics. The swinging beat was accented by a muted trumpet solo, contributing to the 1920s feel of the song.
They followed this tune up with the Miles Davis number "So What." This song was easy to bob along to as the bass crawled and thumped along.
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