Walking into An die Musik for the first time, I found that the atmosphere of the space was perfect for the late evening. A narrow walkway greeted me at the entrance, which separated into two dark entrances that one could choose to enter the room.
Once inside, I was met with the warm sunny ambience of the stage. The stage was perfectly lit by overhead spotlights, casting light over all of the instruments. On the stage sat a grand piano to the left, electric guitar, bass and alto saxophone in the middle, and drum set to the right. The mix of the blue curtains and the yellow walls added to the vibrant jazz theme of the night. Out on the other side, concertgoers took a seat in the comfy lounge chairs in an assortment of different shapes, sizes and colors.
An die Musik Live and the Peabody Institute Jazz Department partnered to present a series of “Hittin' With the Youngins” on Thursday, Feb. 27, at An die Musik in Mount Vernon.
This series offers the chance for one Peabody student to present their compositions alongside other Peabody musicians and one Peabody Jazz faculty member. Senior Noah Ford — along with faculty member Charenée Wade — presented this night. The other musicians were junior Rockwell Shapiro on piano, senior Will Hazlehurst on double bass, Nico Wohl on electric guitar and senior Thomas Schinabeck on alto saxophone.
The event began with a drumming solo by Ford. It was quite expressive, with many rhythmic variations throughout, which quickly got the attention of the audience. After establishing the start of the first setlist, the piano came in with repeated chords. Soon after, it was followed by the electric guitar, which geared up for the double bass to come in as well. All of these musicians set the backdrop for the saxophone to smoothly enter in with the melody. As Schinabeck played, some of the other instruments began joining the melody to Ford’s first composition “Beautiful Naivete.”
As Ford explained during the concert, this piece emulates how saw himself in the past, especially as a naive freshman in college. From the audience’s perspective, the piece felt very adventurous and buoyant, but still preserved the cozy jazz atmosphere.
Eddy Soler, a freshman pianist from Peabody, also attended the concert. In an interview with The News-Letter, he described what he enjoyed about the concert.
“I really liked how between each set, [the musicians] talked to the audience and explained the next chart they were going to play, and also the symbolism behind it,” Soler said. “I really enjoyed the first part of the set, which was written by their drummer, and it was really interesting to hear his story of how he wrote it.”
After the first set was over, Professor Wade ran out from behind the audience and joined the musicians on the stage. She praised Ford on all of his hard work as she took her stance in the middle of the stage and smiled, getting ready to sing with the ensemble.
Another piece that Ford wrote was called “Sorry Earth.” The piece began with a very melancholy tune, followed by Wade reading a message to the audience while the music kept going in the background. She talked about the various aspects of our environment, including climate change, and how the planet is getting destroyed by the selfish desires of humans. Following a long interlude by the piano and drums, Wade listened to Schinabeck on the saxophone. After a few listens, she sang, doubling the melody alongside him.
An interesting aspect of the concert was how the musicians interacted with each other during adlib moments. Wade especially would make a lot of gestures and eye contact with the others to get them to match her adlibs. At one point, she asked the pianist to clap instead of playing the piano, and counted him in for when he should switch back to playing — all of which was unplanned. Seeing this type of interaction was amusing, as I could really feel the deep connection between the musicians as friends who love to perform together. The nature of seeing an improvisational performance created a really casual vibe, which left the audience feeling very comfortable, as if we were also part of their circle of friends as well.
The musicians also played some of the songs from Wade’s recorded albums, including “Home is Where the Hatred Is,” where she invited the audience to sing along by repeating after her. Schinabeck was also impressive throughout, as he would be able to play back the ad-libs that Wade sang just by hearing it once by ear.
The combination of audience participation and the heightened interaction between Wade and Schinabeck filled the room with high spirits, as everyone was laughing and having a great time.
The night came to an end with another one of Wade’s favorite songs, “Suzanne,” which was a very intimate and gentle song. This song was more vocally centered, where the music contained many vocal lyricisms and the musicians acted more as an accompaniment. For the finale, all of the musicians played together exchanging adlibs once again, and the audience erupted in loud cheers and applause as the enthusiasm of the night echoed off the walls.
“I really enjoyed the concert,” Soler said. “I think it was a great introduction for those who are not familiar with the jazz culture, [especially] with the overall atmosphere and vibe.”
