This past weekend, MTU held its annual small groups’ Backstage Jazz concert. The concert is a way to show off the various jazz combos and small groups that play at MTU, which can often struggle to get the spotlight when compared to MTU’s established big bands. With that in mind, here are each of the groups that performed.
Starting off the show, we have Prince’s Point. The hardest thing to pin down about Prince’s Point is their genre, with guitarist Dwayne Ridgway Jr. describing them as a “progressive-metal jazz-fusion band.” Prince’s Point also attributes its unique sound to its unique instrumentation, with the band consisting of drums, bass, guitar, and an electronic wind instrument.
Next up, we have Velocity. Styled after the jazz bands of the 1910’s and 20’s, the band contains a trumpet, trombone, tenor sax/clarinet, banjo, piano, bass, and drums. When asked to describe Velocity, pianist William Piskie said “We are a modern jazz band currently playing hot swing, with much more to come.”
Third is the Brass Quintech. As the name implies, the Brass Quintech is a five-piece brass ensemble consisting of two trumpets, a french horn, a trombone, and a tuba. The band specializes in playing show tunes and was formed because leader Michael Tarske “wanted to play old show tunes from the Great American Songbook.”
Fourth we have Momentum, which has 14 members, making it just shy of being a big band. This group formed over six years ago but fell into limbo after Michael Irish, former Director of Jazz Studies at MTU, left the institution. Drew Kilpela, the professor in charge of running the concert, described the band’s music as “Classic funk and soul hits to make you dance.”
Lastly, we have JazTec. Being the premier jazz combo at Michigan Tech, Jaztec features many of MTU’s most prolific musicians. Jaztec specializes in playing more modern jazz and when asked about the band, vibraphone, and piano player Sam Kalkman said that “[Jaztec] can bring a more chill and nuanced vibe than a lot of other bands”
