The jazz program hosted their first lunch concert of the year in Chalmers 104 on Sept. 20, inviting multiple musicians to perform in front of students. The musicians performing were saxophonist Ralph Moore, drummer Roy McCurdy, pianist Sam Hirsh, and bassist Mike Gurrola. They performed five songs, Cedar’s Blues, Holy Land, My One and Only Love, My Shining Hour and Bye Bye Blackbird.
The lunch concert series is a continuation of last year’s, where there was a total of eight shows held on Fridays. Numerous jazz players performed and parents would bring snacks and candy such as popcorn and Italian ice as refreshments for the entertainment.
Ralph Moore has been playing jazz since 1969, and has performed alongside jazz musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie and Oscar Peterson. Roy McCurdy, 87, continues to play jazz and has worked with Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Sonny Rollins and Cannonball Adderley, even appearing on The Tonight Show for many years. Sam Hirsh and Mike Gurrola are both musicians who have been playing in Los Angeles.
Moore said the jazz scene has completely transformed for him since when he started playing.
“Change is unstoppable,” Moore said. “We could lament about what it was all day long, but one day, your generation is going to be surpassed somehow. It’s the flow of life.”
Moore also said he encourages aspiring jazz players to find a specific passion and stick with it in order to improve.
“Listen, find somebody that you really love that knocks you out, and see if you can transcribe some of that,” Moore said. “Learn it, sing it, get it in your mind. Try to transcribe it. Play along with it, emulate it. That’s still, after all this time, the best way to do it.”
Performing Arts Teacher Chris Sullivan said it is necessary for students to be able to experience these performances to reaffirm the importance of jazz even in the modern era.
“I think it’s important for our students to hear this music performed live,” Sullivan said. “Instead of suggesting that people go out to see shows, trying to find time to bring people into our rehearsal room to perform for our students, you have to see this music live. People have this notion that jazz is this old music that doesn’t really exist anymore, but it’s alive and well. Today in particular, Ralph Moore and Roy McCurdy are two of the most legendary people in this music. Roy is 87 he’s played with everybody ever so to put people in this room who we have been hearing on recordings during class, brings the music to life. So it has to happen.”
