Timeless Reimagined Standards

Published November 8, 2024

Timeless Reimagined Standards

Filer image element — *Timeless Reimagined Standards*

The Reno Jazz Orchestra (RJO) is presenting two concerts at our new home, the Note-Able Music Therapy Services building on Orovada Street in Reno, on November 16 at 7:30pm and November 17 at 2:00pm. The Note-Ables did a wonderful job converting the former Montessori school into a music space for all abilities. This includes our office and an intimate theater space seating approximately 80. RJO Music Director Greg Johnson chose the program Timeless Reimagined Standards for our inaugural event in the theater.

There is a long history of composers/arrangers taking a familiar melody and ‘re-inventing’ it, dating all the way back to Sebastian Bach. Jazz continues that tradition. Johnson emphasizes that great melodies are timeless and jazz has a rich tradition creating a new environment around them; different feels, tempos, chords, and instrumentation all come into play when reimagining a great melody.

Timeless Reimagined Standards explores melodies from traditional to early modern, revealing them in a new light. From George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue to Miles Davis’ Nardis, Johnson meticulously chose a program to present compelling arrangements in a way not yet experienced. It is intended to attract every kind of audience with something for everyone. It Could Happen to You is a well-known standard that has been recorded numerous times in a variety of styles. Johnson didn’t want to write just another swing arrangement. His arrangement includes a sneeze for the band to play! Why? One of his favorite TV characters had an iconic sneeze and for fun, he included it in the arrangement. I’ve got to check this out!

Johnson will also present two other arrangements: Leroy Anderson’s Serenata, which was originally a pops orchestra piece which he reinterprets into the jazz idiom, as well as Count Basie’s iconic One O’clock Jump. I am looking forward to hearing these interpretations. The great Bob Brookmeyer’s Silver Linings is Blue Skies in disguise and Bob Mintzer’s Moonlight Serenade and Shiny Stockings are on the program; Duke Ellington’s Rhapsody in Blue and the RJO’s very own Hans Halt’s arrangement of Milestones will be featured as well. Johnson would love this to be the start of a recording project comprised of all original arrangements. He is keeping his pen busy writing a new wave of arrangements!

Opening the concert will be the Discover Jazz workshop students. I visited the workshop last Saturday and I am always thrilled to hear and see young students’ introduction to jazz improvisation. Director Dylan Coleman-Tunstall leads the group in ear training and improvisation approaches. All is taught without written arrangements, but rather by listening and playing back the melody and then improvising over the form of the song. Each Saturday features a two-hour session and Dylan keeps all the kids engaged from start to finish.

In other jazz education news, Nichole Heglund, the new Reno Youth Jazz Orchestra (RYJO) Director, has auditioned and chosen this year’s RYJO musicians. They’re all high school students. They begin rehearsals November 12and their first performance will be with the RJO on December 21as a part of our A Very Soulful Christmas.

I need to mention the RJO is instituting The Quintessence Music Series featuring three concerts at UNR’s Nightingale Hall:

Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024 – A Very Soulful Christmas – Featuring Tasche
Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025 – You Can't Beat This – Featuring Aaron Serfaty
Saturday, May 10, 2025 – Sinatra Sings, Basie Swings – Featuring Matt Mauser

Much more info about the series in my next blog. Can’t wait? Click here!

Timeless Reimagined Standards tickets:
Saturday, Nov. 16: https://app.dvforms.net/api/dv/875862
Sunday, Nov. 17: https://app.dvforms.net/api/dv/58odvp

Chuck Reider is the the President of the Reno Jazz Orchestra