Fresh talent to the fore in Jazz concert

Five ensembles performed at QE’s annual Jazz Evening – with most of the musicians involved taking part in the event for the first time.

Held in the Shearly Hall, the popular concert featured pieces by composers as varied as Charlie Mingus and Lennon & McCartney, while the music ranged from familiar jazz standards – Take the A Train – to songs from other genres, such as Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah.

Music teacher Tom Jack said: “The evening was a great success, with all the students playing and singing at a really high level. It is particularly pleasing to see many pupils involved for the first time – only ten were also involved last year: the future for jazz and a cappella singing at the School looks bright.”

The Big Band began and finished both halves of the concert. The B-Minors, a new ensemble this year, performed three Beatles songs and Hallelujah, while the Friday Jazz group played Gershwin’s Summertime and Autumn Leaves by Kosma.

In the second half, the Barbershop group sang Moon River and the traditional My Evaline, before the Saxophone ensemble took on Mingus’s Boogie Stop Shuffle. Then Year 13 vocal soloist Varun Vassanth, the former School Captain, performed Don MacLean’s ode to van Gogh, Vincent (Starry, Starry Night), before handing back to the Big Band, who brought the Jazz Evening to a conclusion with Basie’s Blues in C and I Want You Back, made famous by The Jackson 5.