Sounds not often heard in Tuscaloosa rang out in Moody Music Hall last Saturday as the Alabama Cavaliers and the University of Alabama Jazz Ensemble presented a free concert featuring a variety of jazz tunes and big band style music with accompanying vocals.
The concert also featured dancers, both professional and otherwise. The Dance Clubs of Tuscaloosa performed alongside the ensemble and the Alabama Cavaliers, who played near the front of the stage, and encouraged those in the audience to come on stage and dance to the music.
“It’s great; I really enjoy the dancers,” Shaina Strom, director of the Mildred Westervelt Warner Transportation Museum in Tuscaloosa, said. “I enjoy the programs Moody puts on.”
The bands played two forty-minute sets separated by a short intermission to an audience made up of the friends and family of those performing, as well as many music lovers from the Tuscaloosa community.
The songs started with the playful jazz number “Leap Frog” and continued into more melodic songs such as “Moon River” throughout the night. Latin inspired songs were also played, as well as big band classics.
The variety of the music played allowed for members of the Dance Clubs of Tuscaloosa to perform many different routines, including the waltz and the tango.
The Alabama Cavaliers presented a scholarship to the UA Jazz Program during the performance.
After the show, audience members were invited to stay and meet some of the members of the Alabama Cavaliers to discuss the night’s show.
The musicians who make up the Cavaliers live in different parts of the country and meet to play together once a year on the University’s campus. The concert began with some of their members talking about what the group meant to them personally, and how much they enjoyed meeting annually for the chance to continue playing together.
“The event is part of a reunion that gets the two groups together to do a concert,” Merle Lemley, keyboardist for the Alabama Cavaliers, said.
Michelle Harvey, a senior majoring in criminal justice, said she enjoyed the opportunity to take in a jazz show on her own campus.
“I was in color guard in high school, and I have always enjoyed live music, so seeing this tonight was really interesting,” Harvey said. “Jazz is so much fun to watch live. Seeing an older group reunite and play with the current ensemble on our campus is really special.”
For more information about additional events held in Moody Hall this summer and fall, visit music.ua.edu and view the calendar for upcoming events.
