ITG 2003 Jazz Competition

Tom Erdmann, reporter

Early Saturday morning saw the finals of the 2003 Student Jazz Improvisation Competition. The excited and enthusiastic audience was treated to some great jazz playing by some of today’s brightest young jazzers. The three finalists were: Nathan Botts from Brigham Young University, a student of David Brown; Will Caviness from The University of North Carolina, a student of Jim Ketch; and Adam Czerepinski from The Manhattan School of Music, a student of Laurie Frink. Each of the finalists were superbly supported by an outstanding rhythm section including Joey Carter, piano; Kyp Green, acoustic bass; and Dave Carnes, drums. Each of the finalists were required to perform a slow blues, a Latin number, any tune using rhythm changes at quarter note equaling 144 and the one required tune - John Coltrane’s Impressions.

Caviness opened the program with a sweet rendition of Nica’s Dream. He followed this up with Impressions before launching into a dark and hauntingly beautiful rendition of Parker’s Mood. Closing with Anthropology, the audience’s appreciation for his abilities included enthusiastic applause. Czerepinski began his portion of the program with Miles Davis’ All Blues. This was followed by an introspective rendition of Impressions that built to a number of exciting climaxes. Tom Harrell’s difficult Sail Away led to a rousing rendition of another Miles Davis associated tune, Oleo. Botts closed the program by opening up with an excited reading of Nica’s Dream. He as well chose to do Impressions as the second tune. Charles Mingus’ Goodbye Pork Pie Hat showed flashes of Lester Bowie influence before Botts closed with his own composition, I Got Rhythm, But I’m Tone Deaf. Bott’s harmonic inventiveness was showcased well in this final piece and the audience’s wild reception aptly showed their appreciation.

Note must be made of the suppleness of the rhythm section in being able to successfully negotiate each of the finalists’ styles and intricate arrangements. In a word, they were superb.