Students and the general public can attend a free jazz concert directed by Bruce Jordan, at Sinclair Community College’s Blair Hall Theatre in Building 2, on Jan. 21 at 8 p.m.
Sinclair hosts four jazz concerts per year; the first concert of the year, performed in January, has Jordan as the featured guest artist on saxophone. The jazz concert will consist of a wide variety of jazz music such as swing, cool, bebop and Latin, including Afro-Cuban and South American, according to Jordan.
“It’s a real treat to do this – really it’s a lot of time, it’s a year in the making. You always have to do new compositions,” Jordan said. “There are many aspects involved in the production of a concert but I enjoy doing it. I really enjoy the people in my band and the opportunity to really play with them, instead of just conduct.”
Jordan says the job duties as a concert director include rehearsals, ordering music, listening to national and international CDs to find new music to perform and doing publicity for the band. The publicity aspects include making the program and using websites to promote jazz.
Jordan is not only a jazz concert director and a musician but also an adjunct music professor at Sinclair who teaches music theory and saxophone courses. He said he loves seeing the growth in the musical performance of his students.
“So I am just thankful to Sinclair for letting me be a part of the Sinclair community,” he said.
Jordan started playing in jazz dance bands and obtaining gigs at around age 12. During his teen years, he performed at numerous events, wedding receptions and at the Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Fairborn. He cites his older brother as one of his reasons for becoming interested in music at a young age.
Jordan said that he graduated from high school during the 1960’s when jazz was a greater part of our culture. He believes that jazz has withdrawn the most in the radio, which is where he hopes to see a comeback.
“Live musical performances are what will turn students on to jazz. When Sinclair started, they knew that Sinclair needed to be a comprehensive community college and they had a vision at that time: if it’s going to be comprehensive then the arts – dance, theater, and Sinclair’s three art departments – need to be part of the curriculum,” Jordan said.
According to Jordan, it is too expensive for most jazz concerts to tour because there typically are 16 instrumentalists in a jazz ensemble or jazz big band – five saxophones, four trombones, four trumpets, a bass, a piano and drums. Because most jazz bands cannot tour, it is the performances at large colleges and universities that keep jazz music alive, he said.
Jordan said that he got into music as a child because of how fun it was.
“It’s just as if you’re a theater major and you’re in a play. It’s fun. It’s your thing. And that comes forth to the audience and so they’re having fun because you’re having fun. You got to keep that up in your mind, we’re all there for the audience,” he said.