Jazz Orchestra Plays Music from the Oldest Jazz Band in the World

While not itself all that old, the HSU Jazz Orchestra will highlight a composition by the man the Guinness Book of Records recognized as the founder of the oldest continuously existing jazz band on the planet-- or at least it was until recently. It happens at Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata on Saturday, October 18, when the Jazz Orchestra plays their half of the program, preceded by the HSU Symphonic Band.

Oleg Lundstrem, a native of what is now the nation of Georgia, began his jazz orchestra in 1936. Georgia was part of the Soviet Union then, and his band was the first jazz group in the entire USSR. Lundstrem kept the band going until his death just three years ago.

Lundstrem was also a composer, and the Jazz Orchestra will play one of his works, “V Gorakh Gruzii” (“In the Mountains of Georgia”), which he based on a Georgian folk tune.

The rest of the program is a little more standard: jazz classics like “A Night in Tunisa” by Dizzy Gillespie, as arranged by Michael Phillip Mossman for Mario Bauza and his Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra, and “Round Midnight” by Thelonious Monk, with a new arrangement by Mike Tomaro, featuring Sky Miller on alto saxophone.

“Smoke Gets In Your Eyes,” with another arrangement by Mossman, features Tristan Kadish on trumpet. Charles Mingus's "Pedal Point Blues" was recorded by his small group in 1959, but it went unreleased until the 1970s. The arrangement the Jazz Orchestra will play was written for the Mingus Big Band by John Stubblefield. The Orchestra will also play “Who, Me?” as written by Frank Foster for the Count Basie Orchestra.

In the first half of the evening, the Symphonic Band performs “Three Dances of Enchantment” by University of Mississippi composer-in-residence Luigi Zaninelli, “Orange Was Her Color” by Brian S. Wilson, “Petite Symphonie” by 19th century French composer Charles Gounod (famous for his version of the Ave Maria), “Children’s March” by 20th century innovator Percy Grainger, and “Galop” by 20th century Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich.

The Symphonic Band is directed by Paul Cummings, and the Jazz Orchestra is directed by Dan Aldag. The combined concert begins at 8 PM on Saturday, October 18. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. http://hsumusic.blogspot.com/.