On Wednesday, April 17, the Salt Lake Community College Performing Arts Department hosted “Really Slick,” a concert featuring the talents of SLCC students and a plethora of vibrant and energetic Jazz and Blues tunes.
The free-admission event took place between 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. South City Campus’ Grand Theatre provided an enticing setting for the evening’s performances.
Jazz and studio ensembles featured in the program included The Moon Shiners, Vacancy, Cable and The Jeff Ringle Experience.
Kicking off the night, The Moon Shiners, led by the vocal talents of Mariah Richard, performed Amy Winehouse’s You Sent Me Flying.
Richard’s strong, resonating timbre evoked the intense sense of longing, rejection and frustration belonging to the lyrics while repetition of melodic phrases performed by trumpet player Cameron Wall accentuated elements of the vocal message and created a sense of lament within the piece.
Vacancy, the second musical group to perform, featured the talents of Mike and Jackie Huggard and Jake Wardell who covered popular numbers by artists such as U2 and Feist.
Vacancy’s performances showcased the pleasantly unrefined and inventive characteristics of jazz with a catchy blues-rock fusion thrown into the mix, giving the group its unique charm.
The group Cable performed Seven Days in Sunny June, a number by acid jazz group Jamiroquai
Vocals in this number, performed by Noel Imair, were spunky and carefree. A digital element, incorporated into the music with the talents of Disc Jockey Ryan Moody, gave the music an edgy jazz-pop sound.
Beats provided by drummer Caleb Goodman gave heart to the music allowing a forward feeling momentum to be created while interactions with other musical performances within the group provided a rich harmonic texture.
The Jeff Ringle Experience concluded the program. They performed a rendition of Spencer Davis Group’s Gimme Some Lovin’ from the 1980 film The Blues Brothers.
Lively music of The Jeff Ringle Experience ended the evening on a high note incorporating vibrant instrumental solos that showcased the unmitigated talents of each performer.
Austin Gren, guitar player and chord composer for the group, provided basic underlying rhythmic foundation for the music while maintaining an individual personality in performance that gave the music a distinct energetic flavor.
Drummer Jeff Ringle brought the performance to a close with a solo showcasing precise technical and creative ability and providing a pitch that added dramatic punctuation to the piece.
Stage lights in bold hues of red and yellow gave performances crisp and fiery warmth, while tinges of blue light enhanced the more somber elements of music. Overall, the concert provided an evening of hearty entertainment and soul-gratifying sounds.
Unconventional thinking behind musical performances was refreshing and kept listeners attentive. Those who may have not had a burning passion for “all that jazz” coming into The Grand that evening left with a reinvented appreciation of the music genre.
