Student ensembles to perform in Fowler for UCLA Jazz Combo Night

“Rhapsody in Blue” was the last classical song Mike Greenwood ever played.

“Jazz just felt more natural,” Greenwood said.

As the pianist for the Jameson Wood Trio, Greenwood is a fourth-year ethnomusicology student who recently decided to transfer to an intensive jazz piano program at California State University Northridge in an effort to seriously pursue a jazz performance career. Nevertheless, Greenwood still enjoys performing at UCLA.

This Thursday, Fowler Museum will host UCLA Jazz Combo Night as part of the Fowler Out Loud series. The event begins at 6 p.m. and admission is free. Three jazz ensembles, The Jameson Wood Trio, The In-N-Out Sestet and A Minor Sling will perform a medley of traditional and original pieces.

Having performed all over the country, including Los Angeles’ House of Blues, Greenwood has been an avid jazz performer since high school. After making it to the finals for the prestigious Brubeck Fellowship, Greenwood realized that jazz was more than just an interest; it was his life’s passion.

“That was the final validation ““ I thought, “˜OK, I should put more time into this.’ The rest is, as they say, history,” Greenwood said.

Greenwood will perform his original song, “If Only,” as well as two other jazz standards with fellow trio members Jake Jameson and Alex Frank on Thursday.

Fellow Fowler performer, Philippe Maniez, a third-year English student and drummer for the In-N-Out sestet, shares Greenwood’s desire to play jazz music professionally.

“Jazz always kept (me) on the tip of my toes” Maniez said.

Originally from Lyon, France, Maniez has been playing jazz since the age of 12. As both of Maniez’s parents are professional opera singers, music was always present in Maniez’s life. After graduating from Université Lumière Lyon 2 with a diploma in musical studies, Maniez performed with his group, The Four Alligators, at clubs all over Paris and Lyon. The group even appeared at France’s National Music Day.

The In-N-Out Sestet plans on playing a Wayne Shorter song, a Maniez original composition, and is undecided on the last song for their set. However, Maniez said he has complete faith in his fellow band members.

“We don’t have any problems with whatever the other guys brings in, because most of the time it’s fun and challenging,” Maniez said.

According to Maniez, musicians in the United States are generally better educated than those in France, and he enjoys the more traditional approach utilized in the U.S. He said that people in America are a bit more open and positive about the way they approach music.

Unlike Maniez and Greenwood, some of Thursday’s performers are new to jazz. Andrew Perez, a fifth-year ethnomusicology student, is the guitarist for A Minor Sling. The concert will be both Perez’s and A Minor Sling’s first jazz performance.

“It’s kind of last minute, but we’ve all played together at different times before. So we decided to try something new,” Perez said.

A relatively new group, the members of A Minor Sling met in an ethnomusicology class. The group will be playing the traditional “Autumn Leaves,” originally by Joseph Kosma, “Blue Bossa” by Kenny Durham and “A Minor Sling,” the inspiration for the band’s name.

Perez is not a formally trained jazz musician ““ he has a classical background ““ but found common ground with the other members of A Minor Sling when they were offered a spot at the Fowler concert.

“Jazz is finally being recognized as an American art form,” Maniez said. Whether the performers have been playing jazz all their lives, or began exploring the genre a few months ago, Thursday’s concert will showcase this multifaceted art form.