Fred Radke’s band at the welcome concert.
Colman Rowan | Collegian
Fred Radke, world renown trumpeter and director of the Harry James Orchestra, is back on campus this week, warming up Hillsdale’s cold November nights with jazz music.
Radke’s next event is “4th Annual Battle of the Big Bands” on Friday Nov. 15 at 8 p.m. in McNamara Rehearsal Hall. At this event, judges will decide whether his band or the Hillsdale College Big Band performs better.
“It’s always a pleasure to be back,” Radke said to a crowd gathered in Plaster Auditorium Friday for a welcome concert.
Hillsdale College welcomed Radke back Nov. 8 to begin his round of upcoming jazz events on campus.
At the end of this concert, Radke invited his audience to attend “Battle of the Jazz Combos” which occurred on Nov. 13. The Harry James Orchestra will close Radke’s campus performance tour on Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. in the Searle Center.
“It’s a magnificent event,” Director of Jazz Ensembles Chris McCourry said to the audience at the welcome concert about the Harry James Orchestra. “They really roll out all the great drinks and food. It’s a great band. It’s a really great thing.”
Tickets for the Harry James Orchestra are now sold out. Those who are unregistered but want to attend the event can email special.events@hillsdale.edu to be added to the waitlist. Doors to Searle will open at 7 p.m. to registered guests for hors d’oeuvres, and the band will begin playing at 8 p.m.
At the welcome concert, Radke, McCourry, and three other musicians performed seven pieces ranging from soft and gentle songs to lively and exciting ones.
“My favorite part was the way they played off of each other,” freshman Grace Brennan said. “It’s very exciting. I think a lot of times people think jazz is very calm and collected, but I think a lot of it is very spontaneous and exciting, especially with the classic jazz instruments seen on stage.”
Brennan enjoyed Radke’s personal anecdotes to his pieces and engagement with his audience to his pieces.
“He was very good at storytelling, which is fun,” Brennan said. “The way he actually talked to the audience was cool.”
Brennan said she plans on attending all the jazz events this week.
“I love seeing jazz performed live,” said Brennan. “Ever since I saw a tribute to Amy Winehouse and Billie Holiday in Atlanta I’ve been trying to see as much live jazz as I can, and because of that I’m going to try to make it to the rest of the jazz concerts this week.”
Freshman Thaddeus Reudelhuber said he heard about the welcome concert from friends and was excited to see what it was.
“The improvisation was amazing,” Reudelhuber said. “It illustrated his musical abilities so well, that he could keep rhythm and improvise in a beautiful way while still being mindful of the amount of time he had left.”
Reudelhuber said he encourages students to attend the jazz events this week.
“Go to the jazz events this week,” Reudelhuber said. “I think students will be pleasantly surprised.”