As 7:30 p.m. approached I was hurrying into McGaw Chapel with friends. Alumni, students, and community members were all anticipating this concert, the main event of homecoming weekendís Friday night. A last-minute first-year was acquiring his forgotten baritone. Several members of the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra were warming up with the Wooster Symphony. I spotted Paul Ferguson, a trombonist who had a concert with the jazz ensemble last fall, and he commiserated with me over his free jazz exploration titled ìFlesh,” which takes its theme from a Bach chorale. McGaw filled quickly. The Wooster community is always ready to acknowledge and appreciate Jeff Lindbergís newest musical offering, and Friday was no exception.
The program consisted of Ella Fitzgeraldís songbook and Lindberg himself transcribed almost all of the pieces for the concert. For those unaware of Ella Fitzgerald, she was the most well-known female jazz vocalist of the 20th century. In her 59-year career, she won 13 Grammy Awards an d sold over 40 million albums. She is regarded as one of the greatest scat singers of all time. Spend some time listening to the YouTube tribute videos and you will fall in love with her bird-like vibrato and ecstatic pronunciations. I feel that great singers make words delicious.
Amy Gardner took the stage first with ìSomethingís Gotta Give,” an old Johnny Mercer tune from the Fred Astaire film ìDaddy Long Legs.” She continued into ìSíWonderful” and ìHeat Wave.” Her voice was the most gentle of the three vocalists I heard that night. She was also the youngest singer and from her biography it seems she is transitioning into professional singing. She is currently an Event Emcee for Radio Disney in Cleveland. I felt she held her own, but I knew the other singers would blow me away.
Dee Alexander continued the program with a bombastic arrangement of ìThey Canít Take That Away From Me.” Her body was controlled, and her voice was dark. Raw bellowing and sharp affectations kept the audience holding onto her every syllable. Her outfit was a stunning silver overcoat and dense black curly hair that towered over her shapely frame. The following song, ìLove for Sale,” was intensely sensual. Professor Lindbergís transcription recreated Nelson Riddleís classic arrangement of this standard Cole Porter tune. She ended her set with ìI Got Rhythm,” the end-all be-all jazz standard.
Frida Lee Stevenson is the lead jazz vocalist for Lindbergís Chicago Jazz Orchestra, and rightly so. Her range was tremendous, and her age delicately gave her voice wisdom and truth. I have to say that her age gave her some spunk, too. Her performance of ìDing-Dong the Witch is Dead” brought the audience to a heavy guffaw, and before they could finish the other two vocalists came out. Stevenson stood in between the two taller females as they careened through ìLetís Call the Whole Thing Off.” More than once I saw them searching for the words and coming up with hilarious timing. I think one of my favorite confusions was when all three of them said ìLobster!” at the end of the last verse.
The rest of the night was amazing as well, and I realize how lucky the Wooster community is to have such an extravagant night of great music. Lindberg is a pioneer in transcribing and performing classic jazz arrangements. Many orchestras, including the Count Basie Orchestra, the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, the Woody Herman Orchestra and the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, have performed his transcriptions.
With the Chicago Jazz Orchestra he has collaborated with Herbie Hancock, Dave Brubeck, Quincy Jones and many, many others.† The Wooster Symphony will be playing their next concert Nov. 7 and 8 with Lin He.