Flown back in time to a glamorous sounding night
The spinning hum reflecting both the psychedelic 1960s and spooky Halloween echoes in the chamber, nonchalantly greeting the seated guests. This high-pitched reverberation is sung by a single and bizarre instrument, but is not long abandoned by the others, which drift in and out of the song.
The Saddleback Big Band performed on Oct. 3 at 8 p.m. in the McKinney Theater to a packed auditorium. Featuring the music of the talented Thad Jones, the band did not fail to blast out ear pounding notes.The erratic booms and blasts could have situated in a ritzy 1950s Italian restaurant, where the glamorous movie stars all danced.
The band remained jazzily monotone until after the intermission, when it experimented with an odd nebular free piece that sounded both groovy and creepy like the Beatles tuning their instruments or playing “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!”
“The great thing about being director of such a talented band is when it comes concert time, you don’t have to do much work,” said Joey Sellers, director of the band Joey Sellers. “They pretty much don’t need me to play.”
At the beginning of the concert, Sellers’s hands exploded outward as if they were enveloping the entire world. But despite his many hand gestures, the band seemed to rarely rely upon them.
Audience members greatly enjoyed the jazzy performance. Some felt like they were transported back in time to the original big band performances, while others were just now being introduced to this type of bop.
“It was pretty good,” said Simon Liu, 19, history. “I think I will come again. I live in Irvine, but I like Saddleback much better than IVC because it has a nicer staff, bigger library, and a greater Fine Arts program.”
Although there were many audience members who were sure they would return for another concert based solely on the first half of the performance, some were dependent on the second half to decide.
“It was pretty cool,” said Rigo Lua, 19, criminal justice. “I’m a jazz fan to some extent, but I can’t be exactly sure as to if I’ll come to another concert. It depends on the rest of the performance.”