Jazz Night at Trinity College School, held Friday, May 13th in the Dick and Jane LeVan Theatre, was a huge success thanks to the contributions of many. First, the members of Jazz@4 put in countless hours to pull this show together despite the many COVID-19 pivots in previous terms. The band consists of two talented alto saxophone players, Wesley Hoo and Allen Tang, with Mitchell Baboolal on the bass clarinet expertly playing the tenor saxophone parts for us. The trombone section consists of a powerhouse team of Emma Pavone, Matthew Lambert and Josie Scott. The tenacious trumpet section members are Brennon O’Grady, Michael Moreau and Bria Chalovich. In the grooving rhythm section, Bruce Duanmu and Mr. Xander deBeer on auxiliary percussion, Darren Du on drum set, Charlotte Patterson on keys, Oliver Gu on guitar and Robin Xu on bass. Mika Romao Vandepol expertly delivered vocals to our swinging melodies. This was the last TCS performance for both graduating students, Brennon and Emma, and we are sad to say goodbye.
Jazz@4 hosted the evening, performing five charts from a variety of jazz genres and difficulty levels. On Green Dolphin Street, which was made famous by Miles Davis in 1959, switches between Latin and swing styles. Allen did an exceptional job as a soloist on this chart. Next was the jazz standard, All of Me, made famous by Billie Holiday, played by Jazz@4 featuring Mika on vocals. Cubano Chant, composed by Ray Bryant, was the band’s biggest challenge as it has a quick tempo with challenging rhythms and riffs. Wesley expertly played a solo on the alto saxophone on this chart. All Blues by Miles Davis is a trumpet feature that was played by Michael. Wesley also had an alto solo in the mid-section. Last on the program was a relaxing chart called Song for San Miguel, composed by Mike Steinel. On this chart both Oliver on guitar and Robin on bass had their own solo sections and then traded bars.
Also part of Jazz Night were Mrs. Nicola Lee’s Grade 11 students performing solos accompanied by three accomplished jazz professionals. Tyson Galloway is a bass player who has played everything from solo shows to Big Band ensembles. Phillippe Marsan is a talented drum set and conga player who sat in on a number of the Jazz@4 charts. Reuven Grajner is an award-winning Toronto based pianist who came to TCS for the first time on Jazz Night. The soloists were Claire Ross on flute, Junhyeong Hong on trombone, Kyra Fingas on flute and Allen Tang on alto saxophone. Each one of these students had been working on their melodies and solo sections with a backing track and had an opportunity to rehearse with the professional trio for a 30-minute period on stage in the afternoon before the show. The experience for them was priceless and the performances were spectacular.
We had our own student trio accompanied by Philippe Marsan on drum set. Robin on bass, Oliver on guitar and Sara Yang on piano performed Someday My Prince Will Come. This was a guitar feature throughout with an expertly performed solo by Oliver.
The finale of the concert was performed by the guest trio with fabulous renditions of Take the A Train, Black Orpheus and Bye Bye Blackbird.
A few final notes of gratitude: thanks to Ava Becker for being the master of ceremonies for the evening; Mr. Christian McFadden and Mr. Joel Wesley (sound technicians); Mr. Bill Walker (lighting and support team); the property department for stage support; and Father Don and Phillip Whan Tong for photography.
Jazz Night was live streamed, and parents, students and staff can find the concert recording in the on-demand section of the TCS Live system if they missed these wonderful performances.
- By Nicola Lee, music teacher
