On Tuesday, April 18, local Augusta legend and Grammy Award winner Wycliffe Gordon will invite audiences to enjoy a night of inspired jazz music performed by his students at Augusta University.
Taking place in AU’s Maxwell Theater at 7:30 p.m., the AU Jazz Ensemble will highlight a number of instruments in the show, including: saxophones, trombones, trumpets, a flute, a cello, piano, guitar, bass, tubas and drums.
With a mix of faculty and students playing side by side, Gordon said he hopes audiences will kick back and enjoy tapping their feet to some jazzy tunes.
The performance will also showcase students’ award-winning voices and arranging skills by featuring some new takes on old classics that will truly enthrall listeners. Along with a mix of Gordon’s own impressive original compositions, famous headliners like “Take the A Train” and a few Duke Ellington creations will be heard throughout the concert.
“Looking at our potential setlist, we have some great standards, a few original compositions and we have two new student arrangements,” he said. “We also have a few classic funk standards that we may play like ‘Pick Up the Pieces.’”
According to Gordon, the concert will be designed to not only spotlight students’ existing musical abilities, but to also encourage them to write new and different pieces – or completely alter classic songs into something unusual for audiences.
“Ultimately, I want them to improve their musicianship and to improve their existence; you can play or read music, but why not create music? Try to get in touch with [their] creative side,” he said. “But, most importantly, we want them to know they have to prepare … all they have to do is want to do it.”
However, Gordon said jazz is not just about repeating and recreating others’ pieces; it is also about inspiring and teaching each other to go beyond one’s limits.
“There’s a stigma that comes along with music. People say, ‘oh those that can play will play, and those that can’t teach,’ and that’s some of the biggest baloney I’ve ever heard in my life,” he said. “When [someone] plays and is seen, other people will try to learn from them, and do what they’re doing. So whether you want to teach or not, if you are a really good musician and you are visible, you’re going to be teaching.”
Comparing conversation to creating music, Gordon said jazz improvisation is all about teaching, listening and collaborating.
“There’s more than one way to get somewhere, and if you’re not listening to each other then jazz is not happening,” he said. “[Jazz] teaches us to be critical thinkers. We, as musicians, wake up all the time trying to solve problems with music … I think it helps us in life, and that’s what I love about playing jazz. It constantly evolves.”
If students can learn to evolve with both music and life, then Gordon said he feels he has successfully prepared them to excel at life after graduating college.
“Jazz teaches people to deal with diverse circumstances and to overcome obstacles. That’s what jazz improvisation is,” he said. “When you find out you can [improvise], you just apply those same things to life … things can be really, really bad, but jazz tells us it’s all going to be okay, because that’s what the music is. I think it prepares the students for anything.”
With the upcoming concert, Gordon hopes he can relay that same message to attendees by playing hopeful and soulful melodies.
“We want to present jazz in its greatest form,” he said. “It’s our last concert for the year and we kind of want to go out with a bang and a blast … I hope people come to have a great time.”
Augusta University’s Maxwell Theater is located at 2500 Walton Way, and tickets will be $5 for the general public.
For more information, visit: https://calendar.augusta.edu/site/theatre/event/au-jazz-and-friends-georgia-on-my-mind/
