A faculty trio at UNC-Chapel Hill joined guest artists Rahsaan Barber and Jerald Shynett for a concert in Moeser Auditorium Monday evening. The group played original songs composed by Barber and Shynett, as well as a few older tunes more familiar to the students in the audience.
The concert was delivered as a hybrid in-person and Zoom event, with Barber and Shynett performing their pieces over video chat in real time. The performance featured energizing bursts of improvisation from various players.
Saxophonist Barber and trombonist Shynett, as well as pianist Dr. Stephen Anderson, bass player Jason Foureman, and percussionist Dan Davis took turns improvising individual lines over the rhythmic section. These solo sections are a key aspect of jazz performance.
Shynett, a music instructor at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, said that the quintet had played together like this before, but tonight’s audience was the first to hear the show in-house.
The student audience gathered for UNC’s annual Summer Jazz Workshop, a constant of the UNC Music Department for more than 15 years. Led by Dr. Anderson, students from middle school through college gain crucial knowledge of music theory, jazz performance, and music history from a number of visiting instructors.
This year, the Summer Jazz Workshop will run from June 21st to June 25th.
On Monday, June 21st, the annual UNC Summer Jazz Workshop met for the start of the week. To end of a challenging first day of practicing, classes, and music making the students enrolled in the workshop were shown a virtuoisic display of Jazz music making from Assistant Professor Rahsaan Barber, UNC Wilmington Associate Professor Jerald Shynett and their jazz quintet composed of UNC Music Professors and Coordinators.
The concert was held in Moeser Auditorium on UNC’s campus and also hosted on YouTube for members of the workshop and family. The stream experienced some audio issues at start, but once those were out of the way the production really got moving.
The quintet itself was composed of an upright bass, accompanying piano, drumset, trombone and saxophone. Barber was on sax and Shynett was playing trombone. The setup was very interesting. In order to abide by the CDC’s guidelines and regulations for social distancing due to COVID-19, the rhythm section composed of the bass, piano, and drums were on stage in Moeser auditorium, while Rahsaan Barber and Jerald Shynett were in a separate room. However due to some audio engineering magic, you would never be able to tell as they all blended together very well on stream.
A screenshot of the combo’s set up, in brilliant 420p.
The first piece was very enjoyable to listen to, and sounded like essential jazz. Shynett’s solo playing reminded me of Louis Armstrong and his scat-singing and the way he’d play his trumpet. It was a gentle walking piece. I could almost smell the cigar smoke and cheap booze around me. It felt like being in Vegas in an old movie my parents would probably watch.
The second piece was entitled “Leap of Faith” and was written by Barber before he had his first kid, and his journey into becoming a father for the first time. It’s a faster tempo than the one before and feels adventurous. Like elevator music almost, but more fun. The soft cymbal taps combined with the toms and snare taps from the drummer really help set the mood and tone of the piece. The drum solo also really stood out to me by being an impressive display of both volume control and virtuousic playing.
The third piece was entitled “Pee Wee.” It started out slower than the two prior pieces, and used that slow momentum to fully build to their hard-hitting cadences. Barber and Shynett’s duets and solos were absolutely sublime. The way they were able to match each other and play off each other was absolutely brilliant.
The next piece was called “Swing That Thing.” This piece was a fun callback to styles of early swing jazz and was markedly faster than the first piece the group played. This piece was fun to listen to and probably would have been even more fun to dance to.
The fourth piece, “The Mountain and the Sky” felt more like a bluesy ballad. It had a nice lilt and relaxed feel. This one in particular wasn’t my favorite but I am also a big fan of the faster pieces.
The final piece, “Just in Time,” was where the drummer really got to shine. The piece begins with the drums and then is joined by the bass and piano. The piano feels like it’s playing a stride rhythm in the beginning, before getting out of the way for the saxophone and trombone. Overall, this was a very fun piece to listen to.
I really enjoyed having the privilege of watching this performance. Barber’s virtuoisic playing on saxophone was an absolute delight. The way he swelled phrases to the cadence point and the flurry at which he could release notes was crash. Shynett was no different. He was able to play some captivating licks throughout that grabbed my attention everytime.
On June 21st, 2021, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill held a faculty concert as part of their yearly Summer Jazz Workshop. The quintet performing was made up of four UNC Department of Music professors and coordinators, as well as UNC Wilmington associate professor Jerald Shynette.
The concert was held both in-person and streamed live via Zoom and Youtube. I was one of the students joining remotely. Remote performances are often a challenge to organize, but it is a challenge that is necessary to overcome in order for concerts to reach a wide audience amidst the pandemic.
The concert took place inside the Moeser Auditorium on campus. Three members of the quintet performed onstage: pianist Stephen Anderson, bassist Jason Foureman, and drummer Dan Davis. Located center-stage, the three performers were positioned in close proximity and were in front of large curved wall, which likely aided the room’s acoustics to enhance their sound.
Saxophonist Rahsaan Barber and trombonist Jerald Shynette joined from offstage, visible on screens above the stage. However, using solely the audio, one likely could not tell they were not onstage, as their instruments blended in well with the stage musicians.
An interesting advantage of the virtual setup was it being presented through three unique camera angles. This allowed each performer to be viewed more clearly and made the presentation more dynamic.
The quintet mid-performance, as seen from the Youtube livestream.
The virtual concert did come with technical hurdles however. The audio dropped out at the beginning of the stream, meaning I missed the initial introductions of the performers and the first track’s title. When the audio did return, the sound was being picked up far too loudly by the Zoom microphone, with instruments frequently peaking and overpowering one another (to no fault of the musicians).
Thankfully, these issues had been resolved by the second piece, “Leap of Faith”. The subtlety of the performers and the tone of each instrument came through much clearer in this track. The piece had a relaxed atmosphere and was structured around a series of solos for all five musicians. During solos, the other players would support by creating a steady rhythm with intricate flourishes.
The next piece, “Pee Wee”, stood out for the variety of tempo and intensity throughout. The musicians would create a full, hard-hitting sound and then transition to an intentionally calm and sparse sound at several points.
The fourth piece, “Swing that Thing” was frantic and fast-paced. The musicians often harmonized for the main melody that repeated, mixing in solos and improvisation between repetitions.
The fifth piece, “The Mountain and the Sky” was back to a slow tempo, a nice contrast against the previous track that shows the range of these musicians. Rahsaan’s saxophone solos particularly stood out here, as well as Jerald’s harmonization with said solos. The piece also ended very calmly, with the piano and drums slowly getting softer and quieter.
In the final piece, “Just in Time”, the complexity of the drumming immediately stands out. Rahsaan and Jerald again play off each other well, dynamically filling the other’s gaps in the melody.
Once the audio issues were fixed, the concert came alive and was a joy to experience. Each performer put in their best effort and the energy onstage was high. I could tell that they all knew each other well, both from their banter between tracks and the tightness of their performances. They each knew when to stop for solos, change tempo, and harmonize with one another.
Ultimately, the experience overcame the challenges of the virtual presentation and was truly engaging. Judging from today’s success, this week’s remaining concerts are not to be missed.
