Wednesday evening was a calm one inside the Hotel Andaluz as a jazz combo featuring UNM students played to a quietly chattering audience.
The group consisted of pianist Sean Umstead, bassist and UNM freshman Matthew Jaeger, and drummer Jonathan Rodriguez, a graduate student studying percussion performance. The majority of their performance was improvised, according to the group.
“Jazz, as it is, is about spontaneous creation. Which is why I guess it’s fun and sort of more free because we just play off of each other,” Umstead said. ”The music grows as we want it to as the night goes along.”
Jaeger said that the improvisational aspect of their performance was the most challenging.
“I try to listen to what the drummer and the pianist are playing, because it’s really cool when you’re bouncing off their ideas back and forth,” Jaeger said. “It’s a really hard thing to do, and it’s going take years to master.”
According to Rodriguez, the combo had only rehearsed once — the day before.
“It’s easy to play with good musicians,” Rodriguez said.
He said that the combo usually has a saxophone player but he wasn’t able to perform due to illness.
Members of the audience said they loved the performance. Leslie Smith likened the music to the rollercoaster emotions it took her through.
“It brings you up, it brings you down; you get caught up in it, you get excited and then you get bummed and you don’t know why. And then all of a sudden, the music makes you happy again,” Smith said.
People listened passively as they talked quietly with their friends and ate the food served at the hotel.
“This type of setting isn’t indicative to people really listening. It’s more like lounge jazz,” Umstead said. “People are lounging and listening. It’s mostly about background music.”
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Umstead’s father, Matthew Umstead, who was in the audience, said that the music the combo played was not traditional.
“The traditional style of the songs are very straight forward,” Matthew Umstead said. “It’s like painting. You have a traditional painting style and then you have abstract. They’re playing in a more abstract style than the traditional style.”
When going to a jazz performance, Sean Umstead recommended that people keep an open mind.
“(Try) to be as part of the performance as possible,” Sean Umstead said. “When musicians perform and especially with jazz, our overall goal is to connect with the audience.”
“If they hear something they like, it’s okay to respond to that,” Rodriguez added.
Ariel Lutnesky is a freelance reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com.
