Purple lights lit the stage of the Dawn Theater Nov. 8, welcoming Fred Radke back on stage to play songs that have defined the world of jazz.
Families, students, couples, and even Dennis “Gate Guy” Cook filled the theater, sinking into the mish-mash of theater chairs and velvet love seats, ready for a dynamic performance.
Senior Therese Williams, who works for the Dawn Theater, has heard Radke perform multiple times. She has a lot of respect for Radke and thinks it is incredible that he plays in Hillsdale every year.
“He performs in the Searle Center and he does master classes with jazz students, he tells them what they’re doing right and what they’re doing wrong so they can learn from a real professional,” William said. “He’s performed with every big jazz name out there. He’s played with Ella Fitzgerald and the Andrew Sisters. It’s absolutely insane, he’s a relic of a human being.”
Radke’s trumpet pierced the silence, starting the first song with Terry Lower on piano, Larry Ochiltree on drums, Paul Keller on bass, and Chris McCourry also on trumpet.
The night began with “The Blues Walk” by Clifford Brown. A large portion of the song was an exciting back-and-forth between the drums and the piano, eventually being pulled back together by the bass, then accompanied by both trumpets and an exploding audience.
The second song, “Since I Fell For You” by Lenny Welch, started with a slow and sweet piano melody. After the first two songs Radke took song requests from the audience, such as “Take the ‘A’ Train” by Duke Ellington, and “’Tis Autumn” by The Nat King Cole Trio.
In between certain songs Fred Radke would stop to tell a story of how the song was created and originally sung. According to Radke, “Take the ‘A’ Train” was written on a train by Billy Strayhorn and Ellington’s son Mercer Ellington.
Radke said he tells these stories to connect the audience to jazz.
“The history of jazz is such an important art form to keep alive in America,” Radke said.
“I’ll Be Seeing You” by Billie Holiday was a very important song during World War II, according to Radke, and it still has a gravity to it that connects us deeply with the past. The band played “I’ll Be Seeing You” upon request; Radke and McCoury played the song softly accompanied by piano, bass, and the soft sound of drum brushes to keep the pace.
Williams said “I’ll Be Seeing You” was one of her favorite songs they performed.
Jacob Moore ’24 and his wife, Liliana, sat in the audience with their baby girl. Moore played in the big band when he was a student at Hillsdale College, he and his wife started the tradition of swing club at jazz events. The Moore’s and students in the swing club danced to the last song “Fly Me To The Moon” by Frank Sinatra.
Moore said Radke and his band are always in sync even when off script because of how knowledgeable they are of the songs.
“That’s one of the most impressive parts to me is they know this music, and they can pull it out of a hat at any second,” Moore said. “Every year watching Fred come back and blow that horn seems the same every time, if not better than the last year,” Moore said. “He blows me away every time.”
