TROY, Ala. (TROJANVISION) — Troy University’s Jazz Ensemble made some noise last week at its first public performance of the semester.
Under the direction of David Camwell, the group played songs like “Strike up the Band!,” “Blues And the Abscessed Tooth” and “Three Hip Mice.” They featured soloists and had a guest performer play alongside them for the first half of the show.
“Jazz references these sort of timeless elements that are so important to so many types of music which is, rhythm, the importance of improvisation, the importance of individuality,” said David Camwell, the jazz band director. “And I think those allow themselves to be used in not only jazz itself, but other types of music.”
Guests were spectators to jazz in its purest form, which is largely centered around improvisation. according to one attendee, This style of jazz has significant importance in the history of music, which influenced several genres for generations, and is still influencing today.
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“I feel like with music today its hard to really get the soul of the person into the song, and jazz just sort of brings out that guttural feeling of just, pure feeling towards music,” said Carson Kallhoff, a Troy student who attended the event. “The way they play you can really feel the emotion, and you can’t really feel that with a lot of pop songs.”
When something has been around for as long as jazz has, there is the risk of going out of style, but wednesday night’s guests say jazz carries a timeless feel that can never be replicated.
“The question was, what about jazz and how long has it been around, and what’s the future like for jazz? And the answer is jazz is everywhere jazz is America’s music,” said Raymond Smith, an attendee and Troy professor.
Even though it started in America, jazz has since grown and spread throughout the world. Different cultures and languages have even taken their own spin on jazz, which cements it’s legacy as a genre that may never cease to exist.
