Jazz concert to groove SPI Nov. 10

Special to the Parade

On Thursday, Nov. 10, a quintet of some of the best musicians in Texas will offer an evening of great jazz at South Padre Island’s Convention Center.

The combo of piano, woodwind, guitar, bass and drums will take its audience on a tour of favorites that range from early Ragtime and Dixieland to Post Modern Funk and Latin styles. It will be a jazz experience that highlights the history of America’s most distinctive music right up to the newest creations.

Keyboardist Richard Urbiš will trot out a whole medley of New Orleans memories such as “When the Saints go Marchin’ In” and “Sweet Georgia Brown” plus some Scott Joplin Rags. The quintet will take the stage with some of the most famous tunes in the entire repertory, like Duke Ellington’s “Caravan” and Paul Desmond’s “Take Five” made famous by Dave Brubeck’s memorable recording. There will be lilting Bossa Novas like “Wave and Meditation” by Antonio Carlos Jobim and “Sister Sadie” by Horace Silver.

To appreciate the full range of the program, however, one must be aware of the experience and status of all members of this illustrious quintet. Woodwind artist Terry Tomlin, for example, plays a cool clarinet that is often in demand on the concert circuit. The list of artists he has worked with reads like Who’s Who in Jazz. Topping it are such famous names as Woody Herman, Stan Kenton, Jimmy Dorsey and Russ Morgan. His own One O’clock Jazz Band has won awards at important Festivals at Notre Dame and in Greeley, and Mobile.

Guitarist Clay Moore, a native of Amarillo, is a rare find. His diligent self study as a youth has been refined by years of collaboration with a diverse succession of bands that ran the gamut from Top 40 and Blues to Rock and Fusion. And he has toured extensively developing his own unique style at Jazz Festivals and in concerts in the Americas and Europe. The result is his much admired tone and the expressive phrasing particularly evident in his ballad type solos.

Adding diversity are Matt Johnson, bass, who is a Psychology Professor and Graduate Assistant David Cavazos on drums, both at UTB where Urbiš and Tomlin are professors in the Music Department. The quintet has performed at all 12 of the UTB Hispanic Heritage concerts. What helps to distinguish them is that like the greatest Jazz musicians, they benefit from classical training which gives them an edge in style and technique. Pianist Richard Urbiš, a graduate of New York’s Juilliard Music School, has an active second career giving recitals and performing concertos with important orchestras which, he says, has only enhanced his ability to bring Jazz to life.

The concert is produced by El Paseo Arts Foundation and begins at 7:30 p.m. For more information, visit www.elpaseoarts.org.

El Paseo Arts Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.portisabelsouthpadre.com/2011/10/27/jazz-concert-to-groove-spi-nov-10/

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