The Richland College music recital series is well under way. Last week's feature guest, the Faculty Jazz Group, filled the Fannin Performance Hall with the wonderful sounds of music.
The group has been in existence for about 10 years performing at campus events for various functions, such as the annual Fall and Spring convocations. The group's coordinator and music professor, Derrick Logozzo, who plays drums and percussion instruments, became the coordinator four years ago and has been playing with some of Richland's Faculty Best ever since .
The band members include Brad Williams on piano, James Driscoll on bass, Joe Lee on guitar, Ron Jones on saxophone and Phares Corder on the trumpet. The sound these musicians create contains harmonious blends of contemporary and traditional jazz.
"Our sound is a representation of the 1950s and '60s small jazz group sound, as well as a little Latin jazz rhythm taken from Brazil and Puerto Rico," Logozzo said.
"However you want to mix it, the sound the group creates kept my head movin' and my feet tappin' through the performance," Logozzo added.
Although the group is made up of faculty members, there is a special guest who gets to blow out a few tunes on his saxophone every now and then. Richland student and music major Jordan Laurence adds a second saxophone to the group on certain songs and does an excellent job of keeping up with the seasoned veterans on stage.
In this performance, Laurence was given three solo opportunities. His most soulful contribution was his solo in the group's finale, "Straight, No Chaser" by Thelonious Monk. Laurence, 21, who has been playing saxophone since the sixth grade, says with great enthusiasm that his dream is to teach music. Laurence will perform for the Texas Music Education Association Convention Feb. 8-12 with the College All-State Jazz Group in San Antonio.
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