It was a good night for some jazz music at the Fullerton College Campus Theater.
The Mike Scott Combo is an eight piece band that includes the trumpet, clarinet, trombone, saxophone, bass guitar and drums.
“It’s been a pleasure to work with these guys. It’s been a lot of fun. I enjoy working with them and rehearsing on these songs,” said Scott, combo director.
The combo played some great solo parts on various songs that gave it a lot of layer and movement.
In the song by Lee Morgan, “Totem Pole”, a guitar solo by Thomas Bremer and a great trumpet solo by Ryan Sato combined with the horn section brought a nice harmonica sound to the song.
The most interesting ideas came consistently from Wayne Shorter’s “Beauty and the Beast” song where the combo gave an outstanding performance. They played some solo parts that really brought out the tone of the song.
“I like the sound of the Mike Scott combo. They really put down a great show. I loved all the different solo part to the songs,” said James Mitchell.
Blue Matter Combo directed by Joe Jewell was an eight piece band that played jazz and fusion music from Art Blakey. They played three of Blakley’s songs.
The first song was “Chan Dex Chan” which featured the brass section of three females, Harriet Tam on alto sax, Stef Tapia on baritone sax, and Mirela Chavez on trombone. The song was accompanied by drums and guitars.
“They all work hard and do a great job performing,” said Jewell.
The second song was called “The Hornet” and the musicians played with a heavy fusion style along with solo parts that made the song fly off.
The third song was called “Brain Storm” and it started out with the horn section playing along with a smooth drum beat.
“Filibuster” by John Scofield was the last song which featured a guitar solo by Jaden Lee and trombone solo by Mirela Chavez along with a nice drum beat that brought the song out.
“With Jewell as a guitar teacher, we can see why he is so good,” said Bobby Wilson.
Bruce Babad Combo is a small eight piece band with an dynamic rhythm section of guitars, piano and drums along with an outstanding horn section.
Traditionally, they play Jazz and bebop music that has always been important to the group.
The sense of forward momentum was clear from the opening song “Solarid” that was filled with a form of transparency and textures.
A strong piano solo by Sangpil Lee and trumpet solo by Jason Sandoval was delivered by a nice rich saxophone solo by Steven Wood. It was also accompanied by Daniel Newell with his guitar solo.
They followed up with Bobby Watson’s song “Wheels with in a Wheels.”
It was then continued with a song by Bruce Babad called “Blue.”
It started out with a wild drum beat that featured a nice flute solo By Ruben Uribe and was accomplished with a sax solo by Steven Wood. It ended with a nice rendition on the Bass guitar by Nathan York and Daniel Newell.
The closing song was with Vent Nails that featured all of the musicians having jazz-styled solos.
“I knew that Fullerton had a great music department,” said David Jones. “But all I can say is wow, this was a great concert. I really enjoyed the Bruce Babad Combo.”