Jazz Ensemble and Mansfieldians Combine for Concert

MANSFIELD, PA— The Mansfield University Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Michael Galloway, and the Mansfieldians, directed by Sheryl Monkelien, and will join forces for concert on Friday, October 21 at 7:30 p.m. in Steadman Theatre. The concert is free and open to the public.
The Mansfieldians will be performing selections by current vocal jazz arrangers.
Included on the program are two classic Phil Mattson arrangements New York Afternoon and, the Johnny Mercer standard, I Remember You.
They will also be singing a cappella arrangements of two pop ballads, Lennon and McCartney’s In My Life, with soloist Nicole Yeagley, and the Sting hit Fields of Gold. Another selection comes from the repertoire of one of the most famous current jazz vocal groups, The Real Group’s version of God Only Knows.
The Mansfieldians will join the Jazz Ensemble for Darmon Meader’s arrangement of the Lerner and Lane’s On a Clear Day and Paris Rutherford’s arrangement of Johnny Mercer’s That Old Devil Moon. “These are both swinging arrangements of great American classics,” Galloway said.
As is tradition when these two groups share a concert, a several vocalists will be featured as soloists with the Jazz Ensemble. Alex MacDonald will be singing It’s Only a Paper Moon, Jarrod Miller will be the vocal soloist on the ballad When I Fall in Love and Brandon Russell will sing the Antonio Carlos Jobim standard The Girl From Ipanema. Finally, Beth Bentley will be featured on the song made famous by Billy Holiday, God Bless’ The Child.
The Jazz Ensemble’s part of the show will include Kim Richmond’s Cease & Desist, recently commissioned by the Mansfield Jazz Ensemble and premiered at last spring’s jazz festival. “Trumpeter Chris Simmons will be the soloist in this chart, but it really is a ‘showoff’ piece for the entire band,” Galloway said.
The concert will also include another Kim Richmond original All Together, a straight ahead swing tune. Three members of the trombone section will be featured on the aptly named tune Boneheads. Soloing on this up-tempo blues will be Ben Delong, TJ Harris and Glen DeGeorge.
“Pianist Marian McPartland is a jazz legend,” Galloway said. “As host of National Public Radio's long-running “Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz,” she is one of most recognizable names in jazz. Our own outstanding pianist, Hanako Henty, will be the spotlighted in a beautiful McParland ballad, Afterglow.”
Finally, tenor saxophonist Ben Carraher, alto saxophonist Deanna Lemmon and drummer Grant Butters will have the solo spots on Ray Brown’s No Timeouts Left. “This tune cranks from beginning to end - it is a great chart,” Galloway said.
The concert will follow a three day tour to New Jersey area for both groups. They will perform in concert and present clinics at several high schools.
The Mansfieldians and Jazz Ensemble will be traveling to Edinburgh, Scotland and London, England over spring break in March. They will be presenting concerts at MU’s sister institution Napier University in Edinburgh as well as concerts in London arranged by André Cannier, a Mansfield alumnus who now lives and work in that city. This will mark the first overseas tour these two groups have taken together.
The groups have combined to produce their second CD, Smack Dab in the Middle, which will be on sale before and after the concert. All proceeds will go directly to help defray the student’s expenses for the spring break trip
The Mansfieldians and the MU Jazz Ensemble are sponsored in part through Student Activity Fees.