Saxophonist Jeff Coffin and Percussionist Roy ‘Futureman’ Wooten Play at Frostburg

This past Wednesday, Oct. 17, there was a jazz concert in Lane’s Manicur Assembly Hall, which was set up to be a very comfortable jazz club and was a collaboration event between CES and Late at Lane. They had guest players Jeff Coffin and Roy ‘Futureman’ Wooten, both Grammy award winning and extremely talented artists, to play along with the faculty jazz band and the student jazz orchestra.

The night began with the faculty jazz band in full swing beginning with an original song by Jeff Coffin, “Buckin’ Up,” during which each artist was featured with a solo. It was followed with, “Evil Bad Evil,” another original that had the heads of the audience bobbing to the beat. At the end of the song, the members of the faculty jazz band were introduced by Jeff. Alongside him, also playing saxophone, was the director of the jazz orchestra, Dr. Brent Weber, on piano was Tom Harrison, guitar was Anthony Ambroso, drums was Mark Laurence and the bass was Jim Roderick. There was a huge amount of talent on stage that night.

The next song was the world premier of “Homecoming” from the album The Moment of Now, advertised on earuprecords.com. It was shorter than the rest, but had many more layers than other songs performed that night. It began with a jazz solo and transitioned to include classic piano and slow jazz with low bass notes. It was ominous but very impactful. Then they went to, “Scratch That Itch,” which was a New Orleans authentic jazz song, still very good. The final song of the faculty jazz band was “Mad Hatter Rides Again,” which Wooten described as having a key signature of “either 8 and a half or 17.” The song included a new and interesting rhythm, and Wooten impressed the audience with playing both a tenor and an alto saxophone at once.

Between the transition of ensembles there was a free bar that included food, and the audience mingled with one another discussing their enjoyment of the first half of the night’s events. This concert was a huge draw from the community of all ages. A young girl was overheard talking about how she was excited to practice playing her clarinet when they were home later, and it shows how music and experiencing other artists can inspire people in all different ways.

The FSU Jazz Orchestra was introduced by Dr. Brent Weber. He told the audience how the students had been rehearsing for six weeks, were able to work with Wooten and Futureman on some pieces, and were later conducted by Wooten. They began their concert with “Intersecting Lines” by Les Hooper. Wooten then came on stage to conduct the next piece, “S Boo You,” a piece he wrote in Finland that was inspired by Sunny Rollins and was a very happy, jazzy song featuring student solos.

The next piece performed, “Light by Leaves,”  was very unique with a strong Italian vibe and a mandolin being featured in the introduction of the song. There was a violin and clarinet solo within the song, and Wooten was playing the flute throughout the piece. Those featured instruments are fairly unique to jazz ensembles, not often being featured. The final song of the night was, “Move Your Rug,” ending the concert with strong New Orleans influence and the audience happily clapping to the beat of the performers.

If you are a lover of jazz or interested in any of the above songs, I would recommend looking into them all as they were all great to listen to. But the true effect of the night couldn’t be described and really felt unless you were there in person. Make sure to check your emails and stay up to date on future concerts, as they really are worth the few dollars for a ticket.