The Frost Jazz Orchestra is one of the most enduring and storied ensembles at the Frost School of Music. It has toured the world, shaped generations of musicians, won countless awards, and collaborated with numerous famous guests.
Now music lovers everywhere can experience the group’s artistry, via a new annual series of live concert recordings made at Gusman Concert Hall. John Daversa, Chair of Studio Music and Jazz and the Orchestra’s leader, launched the project in April of 2023 with “Live at Gusman Concert Hall.”
For those who want to be part of recorded musical history at the Frost School, can come hear the newest album recording at Gusman this Thursday, April 11.
The albums will capture the Orchestra’s talent for audiences far beyond the Frost School. Both feature original music by orchestra members, and are available digitally on Frost label MSJ Records.
“It becomes an international rather than a local stage,” Daversa says. “There’s nothing like a live album. You really get to hear the nature of the band in its element.”
Daversa, an innovative, Grammy-winning jazz composer and bandleader, aims to expand not just the orchestra’s reach, but its artistic mission and profile. Last year the 18-member ensemble also changed its longtime name of Concert Jazz Band, to better reflect the breadth of its repertoire.
“It needed to be rebirthed,” Daversa says. While he reveres the Orchestra’s rich history and tradition of superb musicianship, he also thought he could enhance that legacy. “What I felt I could add to that was a level of heart, and a level of creativity and imagination,” Daversa says. “To develop original works, and perhaps develop more emphasis on what’s happening now as music and humanity continue to evolve.”
The recordings capture students’ accomplishments, and their transformative experience at the Frost School, for the future.
“I really want to celebrate the students so they feel proud of what they’re doing here during the blink of an eye that is a college career,” Daversa says. “We can say ‘do you remember that FJO album in 2023 that had [trumpet player] Jason Charos [M.M. ‘23] on it and now he’s doing all these amazing things?’.”
Trombonist Sam Keedy, who’s getting a master’s in studio jazz writing, is proud to have contributed two songs to the first album. “There were a lot of really good writers and players in the group,” Keedy says. “It’s nice to have a time capsule of what that was.”
The first album included five student compositions. The second will have more, with each student choosing a Miami landmark as inspiration. They must establish their own publishing, and practice sharing and promoting their music.
Eric Law, an alto saxophonist with the Orchestra graduating with a master’s in jazz performance, had never composed a substantial piece before writing one for the first live album. “I love the creative process of writing music, and hearing that played by other people felt really validating,” says Law, who’s composing a work for the second album. “My peers were like ‘great tune’. It gave me a lot of motivation and pushed me to do a lot more composing.”
If You Go: The Frost Jazz Orchestra performs at 7:30pm on Thursday, April 11 at Gusman Concert Hall at the Frost School of Music. Tickets are $10-$20.
