This Friday at 7 p.m. professional saxophonist Pete Mills will accompany the Hillsdale College Big Band in its annual spring concert.
Mills attended the University of North Texas along with Big Band director Chris McCourry. Out of the 12 big bands the university offered, Mills and McCourry played in the same band for a semester. After a period of lost communication, McCourry read a review on one of Mills’ albums and reconnected with his college friend. Mills is currently a jazz instructor at Denison University and resides in Cleveland, OH.
McCourry is convinced that, besides simply amusing the audience, the influence of a professional artist is an invaluable opportunity for his students.
“It is a strange thing,” he said. “They tell students the same thing that I tell them, but because it’s a new person the students really listen to them. The students will raise their game a bit so they won’t look bad in front of a professional musician.”
Senior and tenor saxophonist Trent Meyer appreciates living examples of hard work and passion found in professional artists.
“It’s always good to play alongside professional artists,” Meyer said. “Just hearing the intensity they bring to playing their instrument is great motivation. They also tend to pinpoint exactly what you can do to be a better player.”
The passion and skill level that professional artists bring to concerts is the “most important thing for jazz” according to McCourry. He said that students learn a lot from a professional, even in how they make mistakes.
But this year mistakes don’t seem to pose a problem for the Big Band.
The leaderships and accountability in the saxophone section has been a large influence on the Big Band’s performance.
“The sax section rehearse so much on their own,” McCourry said. “The saxophone is the hardest part of the band. They are like the violins in the orchestra. They play the fastest notes and need to spend more time practicing.”
In the past three weeks the Big Band has been practicing 10 new pieces for the spring concert. Pete Mills will come in on Thursday for his first rehearsal with the band. But even with practice, Pete Mills and the Big Band will perform differently each performance.
“So much of what we do is improvisation; by definition jazz is different with every performance,” McCourry said. “What we do Friday will be different than what we do Saturday. But to the audience it will be another great concert. I’m feeling good about it.”
McCourry said that about five freshman join Big Band every year and that the skill of new students are only improving.
Freshman Dani Shillingstad began her singing career in high school, but not to the degree that she wished.
“Back in high school, I was not a big singer because I wasn’t involved right off the bat,” Shillingstad said. “I promised myself that in college I would get involved right way. I emailed Chris [McCourry] over the summer and sent in an audition tape which landed me the position I have now.”
Shillingstad currently sings with the Hillcats, the college’s faculty jazz ensemble, and the Big Band.
“I wasn’t exposed to the jazz community until I came here,” she said. “But now I’m getting into the swing of it. “
Senior Natalie Foley will be playing her last spring concert with Big Band this week. Foley began her involvement with Big Band her freshman year of college playing the tenor saxophone. She will have three solos in the concert this weekend.
“I get nervous before I get up to play my solos,” Foley said. “But as long as you make the audience think you know what you’re doing, you’re fine. No one else knows what you’re doing either.”
bpritchett@hillsdale.edu
