WVU Jazz Ensemble plays Mingus Music!

BY KATHLEEN BATTEN

The Dominion Post

MORGANTOWN — WVU Jazz Ensemble hosted its last student concert of the semester at the Creative Arts Center March 20.

The concert, directed by Jared Sims, was held in the Gladys G. Davis Theatre and was themed off the book “Just Mercy” by Bryan Stevenson.

“Bryan was a guest on campus in November and the book is a common read, so a lot of students will know about the book,” Sims said.According to Sims, the program featured music of Charles Mingus, one of the greatest composers and bassists in jazz history. His compositions focused on his views on politics and racism.

The concert was composed of four small bands and the WVU Big Band and featured a variety of pieces.“Peggy’s Blue Skylight,” “Nostalgia in Times Square,” Pithecanthropus Erectus,” “Fables of Faubus,” “Boogie Stop Shuffle,” “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat,” “Better Get Hit in Your Soul,” and “Moanin’,” by Charles Mingus were performed.“Passion Dance,” by McCoy Tyner, “My Little Suede Shoes,” by Charles Parker, “Nardis,” by Miles Davis and Bill Evans, “Come Rain or Come Shine,” by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer, and “Work Song,” by Nat Adderley and Oscar Brown, Jr. were also performed.