UCLA student showcases one-man jazz act in Fowler concert series

At the age of 3, Nathan Kersey-Wilson’s favorite thing to do was jam out to the Beatles on his plastic saxophone. His musical passion began at this moment, leading him to eventually choose the saxophone as his primary instrument.

His love for music grew throughout the years, as did his hope that one day he would perform solo.

Tonight, as part of the Fowler Out Loud concert series, Kersey-Wilson, a fourth-year jazz studies student, will perform a mix of covers and original songs. Kersey-Wilson has mastered instruments ranging from the flute to the guitar, and has joined various bands and the Medleys A Cappella group while at UCLA. This year he has been concentrating more on his solo projects.

His most recent project involves using his lifetime of musical experience to create a one-man band. To showcase this, tonight Kersey-Wilson will perform by himself by using a loop pedal to incorporate layers of different instruments into his solo jazz performance.

“The one-man band is a musical experiment,” Kersey-Wilson said. “Using the loop pedal, I play a pass line, and the loop pedal loops it, so that I can combine many instruments and create different layers and textures.” Kersey-Wilson will play the sax, flute, keyboard and bass over the course of the evening. On top of this instrumental medley, he said he will sing and beat box.

“A solo performance is something I have wanted to do since I’ve been performing with other groups and bands – I wanted to do something that was completely my own,” Kersey-Wilson said.

Kersey-Wilson has been working toward a solo performance since he began playing the sax at school in the third grade. He soon learned the keyboard, and began adding other instruments to his repertoire. In high school bands, he would play small solos that later prepared him for college bands and musical groups.

Since coming to UCLA, his musical career has taken off. Kersey-Wilson joined several UCLA student bands – the rock band Ten Thousand and Free Food, a band which combines rap and soul music. He has also played in the band The Psyches. Kersey-Wilson only played with some of these groups temporarily, eventually breaking away so he could focus on his solo musical career.

Recent UCLA graduate and former Daily Bruin copy contributor Moses Sumney, who has also performed in bands with Kersey-Wilson, said his arrangements are unconventional because he combines melodies and chords that are rarely put together. Sumney said Kersey-Wilson is not afraid to push the arrangements to their limits.

“He will put in jazz chords, which are normally too complex for singers’ voices, but even though it’s risky it has always turned out well,” Sumney said.

Third-year jazz studies student Jonah Levine, who has previously played with Kersey-Wilson, said Kersey-Wilson is a great composer who never settles for one type of music and always mixes up the styles. Kersey-Wilson  strives to better himself as both an instrumentalist and an arranger, he said.

“Sometimes he’ll bring in a ballad, but then the next time he’ll arrange a pop tune, or throw in some jazz,” Levine said. “He always has a completely different style, but he always delivers.”

For Bruin Harmony’s fall concert last quarter, Kersey-Wilson was invited to open with a three-song solo set that included two original songs and a cover of Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On”. He said the audience received his performance well, which gave him the idea and courage to devote an entire solo concert to the loop pedal, which he will perform at the Fowler Museum. He said the audience was fascinated by the loop pedal, and wanted to further expose it.

“I thought I would perform a longer set and try something that people in the audience haven’t really seen before, like one person creating one song completely by themselves,” Kersey-Wilson said.

Sumney said Kersey-Wilson’s style is funky and soulful, and listeners can hear the influence  of Tower of Power in the way Kersey-Wilson constructs his base line and notes. He said Kersey-Wilson reminds him of old-school artist James Taylor and folk singer Joni Mitchell.

Aside from his ’80s style, Levine said that Kersey-Wilson brings an energetic vibe to every piece. His passion for music is visible whenever he plays.

“Nathan is a really happy guy, it’s all about the love, and you can hear it in his music, phrasing and melodies,” Levine said. “He puts so much soul into everything, and you can see it by the way he is always smiling, moving and laughing.”