Ann Arbor jazz enthusiasts are privileged to have a new jazz ensemble on campus this year. The University Jazz Ensemble, after a brief absence from the School of Music, is back with a vengeance under the direction of Ellen Rowe, associate professor of jazz studies.
The group's final concert of the semester features the 20-member ensemble performing a variety of pieces, including Strayhorn and Ellington's "Satin Doll," "Spectrum" by Bob Mintzer and Sammy Nestico's "Time Stream." The concert also features works by Thad Jones, Kenny Wheeler and Herbie Hancock as well as "Cross Currents," an original composition by Rowe.
So why did it take so long for the School of Music to create a large jazz band? Rowe said, "they had one for many years but it has been dormant for the last couple of years as the head of the department, Ed Sarath, decided to focus on a slightly different type of large jazz group, the Creative Arts Orchestra." With the addition of more full-time jazz faculty, both groups are now in full swing.
Re-establishing a group of any kind takes time. After an individual audition process which included the performance of two jazz pieces of contrasting styles, sight-reading, and the possibility of demonstrating improvisation ability, the University boasts a very talented ensemble. Rehearsing for two hours twice a week, the group consists mainly of music majors but membership is open to anyone willing to audition.
Rowe has lofty goals for her new group. At the top of her list is the desire to develop one of the top collegiate jazz ensembles in the country. As the School of Music's ensembles are typically excellent, the jazz department's recent expansions should prove beneficial to the music environment in Ann Arbor after the absence of a big band from the University.
In addition, Rowe plans to have the group introduce young students to jazz in secondary schools around the state and provide clinics for high school students already interested in jazz. Rowe also wants to see a varied repertoire within her group, including student compositions.
Already this year the ensemble has performed at the Bird of Paradise Jazz Club on Sunday evenings throughout the fall semester. Next semester, the group will be performing in the annual "Collage Concert" in January. The Jazz Ensemble will also represent the university in an intercollegiate jazz festival in Grand Rapids in February. In addition, performances will continue at the Bird of Paradise throughout the winter term. Rowe intends to tour with the group beginning next year.
A former director of jazz studies at the University of Connecticut, Rowe, a jazz pianist and composer, is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, where she studied with Rayburn Wright and Bill Dobbins. Rowe has performed at jazz clubs and in concert series throughout the United States as well as Germany, Holland, Switzerland, Ireland, Poland and Australia. Winner of the Hartford, Conn. "Advocate" Readers' Poll for Best Acoustic Jazz, Rowe is also active as a clinician, giving workshops and master classes at the Melbourne Conservatory, Hochule fur Musik in Cologne and the Royal Academy of Music in London. Rowe's compositions and arrangements have been performed and recorded by leading jazz ensembles and orchestras around the world.
Although the world of jazz music, especially composing, is stereotypically a male-dominated field, Rowe takes it all in stride. "It was challenging when I first started 10 years ago at the University of Connecticut to find an 'authoritative' style of directing that I was comfortable with, but as the years go by I find that those issues aren't such a concern. As long as there is mutual respect between players and conductor, there isn't a problem."
Ellen Rowe conducts the University Jazz Ensemble at a rehearsal.