How to go
What: Miles Osland with the Sinclair Community College Jazz Ensemble
When: Friday, March 4, at 8 p.m.
Where: Blair Hall Theatre, Sinclair Community College Building 2, Dayton
Cost: Free
More info: (937) 512-4580
Whenever two talented musicians share the stage, the result can be either rivalry or respect. When Bruce Jordan speaks of Miles Osland, the respect is obvious.
“I hold a lot of admiration for Miles as a saxophonist and educator,” Jordan said. “He’s such a fine performer.”
On March 4, Jordan will direct the Sinclair Community College Jazz Ensemble in a concert featuring Osland as guest artist. Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Kentucky, Osland has toured widely and released more than a dozen recordings. His fluid sax playing has a constant sense of propulsion, and his wide range allows him to be expressive even at high pitch.
This is Osland’s second collaboration with Jordan and the Sinclair band.
Months in advance, the two men planned the concert repertoire over the phone. “I always try to pick a good mixture of tunes that people will know, and some that will stretch the audience a bit,” Osland said.
Jordan agreed that a successful program contains a lot of variety, blending swing, blues and Latin pieces. “Miles chooses compositions and arrangements that will please the audience and challenge my band members,” he said.
Besides standards including “Speak Low” and “Autumn Leaves,” the group will play some unusual selections, such as a jazz version of “America the Beautiful.” Osland’s own arrangement of the Barry Manilow song “I Was a Fool (to Let You Go)” is also on the program.
In addition, the band will perform Gordon Goodwin’s boisterous arrangement of “Play That Funky Music.”
“With that piece, it’s going to be torture to have to sit in your seat and listen instead of getting up and moving,” Jordan said.
Osland considers any concert to be an opportunity for “edu-tainment.”
“The educator in me comes out and I like to make it a learning experience, for the band and also for the audience,” he said.
Though he has published many jazz instruction manuals, Osland believes no one can become a jazz musician just by reading a book. “You really need passion to do it,” he said. “It has to come from the heart.”
Adam Alonzo is a contributing writer for the Dayton Daily News. Contact him at music@adamalonzo.com.
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