The Dawn Theater hosted renowned trumpeter and director of the Harry James Orchestra Fred Radke on Nov. 6 for a night of impromptu jazz.
Radke was accompanied by Terry Lower on piano, Larry Ochiltree on drums, Paul Keller on bass, and Chris McCourry, Hillsdale College’s teacher of music and director of jazz studies, also on trumpet.
Radke said the history of jazz is worth telling and performing, which is why he loves coming to Hillsdale to perform.
“Big band music is a part of America’s heritage, and it’s important to keep it alive,” Radke said.
Radke and his band took song requests from the audience, accepting most and turning down some. They played jazz songs with lyrics such as Frank Sinatra’s “Come Fly With Me,” Doris Day’s “Sentimental Journey,” and Chet Baker’s “Time after Time.”
Radke took a few breaks from playing the trumpet to sing a range of classic jazz vocals. Since none of the songs were rehearsed beforehand Radke forgot some of the lyrics, but didn’t waste any time to keep the audience entertained. When singing “Sentimental Journey,” he handed the microphone to Keller, who also had forgotten the lyrics and began to make cat noises.
Radke previously referred to Keller on stage as the “No.1 cat,” and this performance fit that description. The crowd laughed and clapped when Radke then joined in, barking like a dog.
After the song Radke said to the audience, “Can you imagine describing to our children and grandchildren what we just did?”
The atmosphere relaxed after the dog and cat fight when the band played “The Way You Look Tonight,” requested by sophomore Lily Williams, who helped run the event as the college’s jazz department librarian.
“I asked for ‘The Way You Look Tonight’ because the Tony Bennett version of that standard is my ultimate autumn/cold weather song right now,” Williams said. “I thought Fred Radke did a phenomenal job capturing the slow sweetness of the song in a lovely ballad tempo. He captured the simple words with a warm tone. The fact that he played what I asked for made an extra special performance.”
Another crowd-pleasing moment was when Radke teased McCourry, asking him to play with the flugelhorn, and then switching up his mind right away asked him to play the trumpet. After a silly back and forth, McCourry called Radke’s bluff and played both flugelhorn and trumpet at once, according to Radke.
Senior Nick Heide accompanies the jazz vocal students as a pianist, and said he enjoyed hearing the band play “Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most,” popularized by Ella Fitzgerald.
“It’s a pretty tune that you don’t hear people play that often,” Heide said. “Fred stated the melody beautifully, and the rhythm section backed him really nicely.”
Heide said he enjoys watching great jazz artists perform.
“It’s great to see masters of this music like Fred Radke and Paul Keller get together and make some nice, swinging music,” Heide said.
Radke said he’s been playing the trumpet for 77 years and has never had a dull moment listening to jazz or performing jazz.
“I think that jazz is constantly evolving,” Radke said. “That’s what’s so great about being a jazz musician – every time you open up your instrument case, you’re going to learn something new.”
Radke said he loves coming to Hillsdale to perform, especially when he gets to play on campus for a young audience. Radke will perform Friday at 7:30 p.m. in the McNamara Rehearsal Hall for the 6th Annual Battle of the Big Bands, and on Saturday at 8 p.m. with the Harry James Orchestra in the Searle Center.
