Eve Cornelius performed alongside NCCU faculty and with graduate student Aaron Gross throughout the night of April 21. Photo by Tia Mitchell/Echo Co-editor-in-chief
Eve Cornelius performed several songs at the NCCU Jazz Festival. She even did a jazz cover of "You Don't Know My Name" by Alicia Keys. Photo by Tia Mitchell/Echo Co-editor-in-chief
Associate professor Baron Tymas smiles as Eve Cornelius performs her vocal solo. Photo by Tia Mitchell/Echo Co-editor-in-chief
Senior Autumn Rainey singing at the Vocal Jazz Ensemble's performance during the Eve Cornelius concert. Photo by Tia Mitchell/Echo Co-editor-in-chief
Jazz junior Tyra Scott during the VJE's cover performance of "Four Women" by Nina Simone. Photo by Tia Mitchell/Echo Co-editor-in-chief
Students trombonists performing beside John Fedchock, American jazz trombonist, bandleader, and arranger. Photo by Kaylee Sciaaca/Echo staff photographer
Student trombonist Taylor Young performing at the John Fedchock concert with the Jazz Ensemble and associate professor Ira Wiggins. Photo by Kaylee Sciaaca/Echo staff photographer
The NCCU Jazz Ensemble were able to share the stage with the well-known jazz musician John Fedchock on April 22. Photo by Kaylee Sciaaca/Echo staff photographer
Bassist and graduate student Aaron Gross smiles as he's watches NCCU alumnae and singer Eve Cornelius perform a vocal solo on stage. Photo by Tia Mitchell/Echo Co-editor-in-chief
Photo by Tia Mitchell/Echo Co-editor-in-chief
Jazz students Nathan Bullington (saxophonist) and Brandon Lane (bassist) take a moment to look at their sheet music before moving on to the next song. Photo by Tia Mitchell/Echo Co-editor-in-chief
During one of Mavis Poole's first songs, a young boy ran on stage while she was singing. Photo by Tia Mitchell/Echo Co-editor-in-chief
Music professor Al Strong performing at the NCCU Jazz Festival's 6th Vocal Jazz Summit. Photo by Tia Mitchell/Echo Co-editor-in-chief
John Fedchock made an appearance at the NCCU Jazz Festival. He taught a brass workshop on Friday, April 21. Photo by Evan Owens/Co-editor-in-chief
Students closely watch John Fedchock apply the techniques he explains during his brass workshop in B.N. Duke Auditorium New Band Room. Photo by Evan Owens/Co-editor-in-chief
Malik Denny during the 6th NCCU Vocal Jazz Summit, singing "Do Nothing 'Till You Hear Hear Me" by Duke Ellington and Bob Russell. This student arranged his version of the song himself. Photo by Tia Mitchell/Echo Co-editor-in-chief
Jazz graduate student Natalie Wallace performing "Caravan/A Night in Tunsia" at the 6th Vocal Jazz Ensemble Summit. Photo by Tia Mitchell/Echo Co-editor-in-chief
Sydney Thomas singing "Passion Flower," originally by Billy Strayhorn. Photo by Tia Mitchell/Echo Co-editor-in-chief
Najma Pettiford was the first performer for the 6yth NCCU Vocal Jazz Summit concert. She sang "My Shining Hour" by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer. Photo by Tia Mitchell/Echo Co-editor-in-chief
Maurice Myers at the NCCU Jazz Faculty concert. He also has arranged songs for the Vocal Jazz Ensemble. Photo by Daniel Hargrove/Echo staff photographer
Lenora Helm-Hammonds is the choir director and a music professor with an extensive background in the industry. This year, she had several Photo by Daniel Hargrove/Echo staff photographer
Music professor and pianist Ed Paolantonio during the Faculty Jazz Concert. Photo by Daniel Hargrove/Echo staff photographer
The NCCU faculty jazz concert featured all the professors, including Al Strong, Aaron Hill, Lenora Helm Hammonds, Ira Wiggins, and Baron Tymas. Photo by Daniel Hargrove/Echo staff photographer

PHOTO GALLERY: Alumni and more celebrate 27 years of NCCU Jazz

May 1, 2017

Throughout the week of April 17, N.C. Central University jazz faculty, students, alumni, and other featured musicians used the B.N. Duke Auditorium stage to celebrate power of jazz and NCCU’s growing musical talent at the 27th NCCU Jazz Festival.

The festival kicked off the week with its first event, the Jazz Combos concert. This concert featured students from Combos 1, 2, and 3 and  Jazz Ensemble 2 classes. These students were all under the direction of music professors Aaron Hill, Baron Tymas, Damon Brown, and Robert Trowers.

Then on April 18, it was time for the 6th annual NCCU Vocal Jazz Summit, which included evening performances from NCCU alumna  and vocalist Mavis Poole, and students in the NCCU Vocal Jazz Combos, a community workshop taught by NCCU Jazz faculty, and a master class from Poole.

Jazz freshman and saxophonist Jaedon Harpe said he enjoyed attending Poole’s master class. Since coming to NCCU to study music, this year was beginning of Harpe’s exposure to playing jazz music as opposed to other genres he played throughout his time as a saxophonist. For him, her class was “really worth it.”

“She said a lot of things that I want to apply to my practice. ” said Harpe. ” Like when she said, ‘If you’re practicing good, you’re doing it wrong,’ That kind of stuck with me because I always get frustrated every time I practiced. Even if I don’t do my best in my practice, that’s not the point of practice. It’s about trying to fix the mistakes until the actual performance.”

The NCCU Jazz faculty also held their own concert at the festival, which included vocalese and band performances from assistant professor Lenora Helm Hammonds, instructor Ed Paolantonio, associate professor Ira Wiggins, associate professor Baron Tymas, and trumpet professor Albert Strong.

Jazz junior Ashesh Chatterjee said seeing the faculty members perform throughout the week was one of the highlights of the NCCU jazz festival for him. Chatterjee performed during the Combos concert on the first night.  When he saw Wiggins performed a vocalese version of Dexter Gordon’s “Hearthaches” album with Poole, Chatterjee said “it blew his mind.”

“I never heard him play like that before on the tenor sax,” he said. “It was like, ‘Whoa now I can see how good my teachers are…Immediately after the show, I just went to the practice room and was there for two hours playing my guitar. That was really inspiring.”

Eve Cornelius, another NCCU alumna vocalist, performed alongside the opening vocalists, NCCU Vocal Jazz Ensemble Friday night, April 19. Cornelius performed covers from artists such as Dionne Warwick and even sang a jazz version of Alicia Keys’ “You Don’t Know My Name.”

During the concert, Helm-Hammonds announced that graduating senior Autumn Rainey was a featured vocalist on the HBO film “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.” She sang “Motherless Children” on the movie’s soundtrack, according to News and Record Greensboro. 

American jazz trombonist, bandleader, and arranger John Fedchock was the last guest performer to close out the 27th NCCU Jazz Festival.

Under the direction of Wiggins, students from Jazz Ensemble I opened and some students,  such as student trombonist Taylor Young, played alongside Fedchock.

Chatterjee said overall, this year’s festival was enjoyable.

“You can always see more improvement but all in all, it was a great event,” he said. “The one thing that I would really love to see next year is a guitar summit for the guitar majors. It would be really cool to have that happen.”

For Harpe, this was the first jazz festival he’s ever attended and performed in. Overall, he said it was a new experience for him.

“I would give this year a 10 out of 10. This was the first jazz festival I’ve ever been to,” said Harpe. “I’ve never done jazz before prior to this year and I really enjoyed [the festival] because I learned a lot. I learned a lot from playing, the workshops, listening to music–It was great.”

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