On Saturday, March 25, Michigan Tech celebrated the 50 year long tradition of jazz music performances at the university, as students, faculty and community members gathered to hear the annual Don Keranen Memorial Jazz Concert. The concert consisted of appearances from the Alumni Jazz Lab Band, the Research and Development Band, and the Jazz Lab Band. It featured special guests Steve Zenz and Michael Christianson, director of bands at MTU. Both men are accomplished jazz musicians whom Tech has been delighted to hear and draw inspiration from.
The concert was inspired by the legacy of Don Keranen (1942-2000), an accomplished musician born in Baraga, who over the course of his career made a profound impact in the lives of student musicians at Tech. As the developer of the jazz studies program established in 1967, Don’s innovations at MTU had incredible breadth. The jazz studies program, as it stands today, includes five musical groups as well as courses in arrangement, improvisation and the history of jazz. Keranen also created the MTU Wind Ensemble, today known as the Superior Winds, and began one of the first all-synthesizers jazz groups in the country called HiTech.
The institution of the jazz music program at Tech is certainly something to be celebrated. When asked about her enjoyment of jazz, Mercedes Bohr, an electrical and mechanical engineering student who plays in the Research and Development Big Band, said, “My favorite thing about jazz is improvisation. There is a lot of freedom to try different things. So long as you know what key and meter you are in, you can play around with the rhythm and notes and make up something that is new and unique.” Another student, Jazz Lab Band performer and graduating senior Andrew Dumitrescu-Mihaly, said, “It means a lot to me. It requires a lot of creativity. If I’m stressed out, it’s an outlet for me…it really helps to get my mind off of things…You can take it anywhere you want.”
The experiences of Tech students in these programs evidently stay with them far beyond graduation. Members perform at Tech as well as beyond. Braedyn Bosilovatz, who has worked under Mike Irish since before coming to Tech as a member of the UP All- Star Jazz Band, elaborates “Every year during the last week of Christmas break the JLB goes on tour. We play usually about nine gigs in four days, driving either downstate or across Wisconsin into Minnesota and stopping at high schools, pizza places, middle schools, theaters, etc. The camaraderie of the band after tour is amazing; we are like a crazy family. Doing what we love and performing for so many people is the best part of being in the band. Another highlight has been being under the direction of both Mike Irish and Mike Christianson, both stellar musicians with a lot of experience in the ‘real world’ of music.”
Yet another remarkable thing about Saturday’s concert and the legacy of Don Keranen was the amazing performance of alumni jazz band members after preparing only in a single morning before the show. With members who had graduated as early as 1977, the Alumni Jazz Lab Band, which consisted of over 50 participants, displayed incredible skill and lasting ability in light of their status as graduates. Mike Irish, Director of Jazz Studies at MTU, writes in the show’s program, “The AJLB first formed and appeared at the 25th Anniversary Jazz Concert in 1992 and was a smash hit…Since then, we’ve had increasing enrollment…They are a great bunch of people and loyal supporters of our program.”
For information about how you can become involved with the jazz program at Tech, be sure to visit www.mtu.edu/vpa/music/jazz. To find out about upcoming events at the Rozsa, visit www.mtu.edu/vpa/events-news/events.
One Response
I joined the JLB in 69, ok player but little jazz experience. Don n took right in, and educated me. Couple years later, when I wanted to leave school, it was my Jazz band mates that talked me out of it — we were going to.go on.tour. Good for me. Years later I retired after servin g as the Director of a national government research lab. If not for Don and my Jazz s, who knowd.