With special guest soloist Paul McKee in attendance, the day of the trombone arrived.

The Missouri Southern Jazz Orchestra kicked off its April 15 show with an introduction to the band written by Phillip C. Wise, music department head and director of jazz studies. Wise wrote the narration as a way to show students how each section is viewed within a jazz orchestra and how it relates musically.

“Oftentimes we have a lot of students from Music Appreciation classes and other classes in attendance who are studying music,” Wise said. “We have community members who enjoy music and enjoy jazz but don’t really understand the functions.”

Wise said the piece was educational and gave some “tidbits and personal opinions about how sections and people are viewed in the band.” The narration made some satiric remark about each section except for the trombones, mainly because Wise is a trombonist and he wrote the piece.

A Count Basie number followed the introduction titled “88 Basie Street,” which featured Joel Thomas on piano. Next was a jazz standard arranged by guest soloist McKee. McKee said as an arranger, he finds it’s better to play his own music rather than someone else’s.

“Polka Dots and Moonbeams” brought out special guest Jeff Macomber from the music department to help out the trombones. “Polka Dots and Moonbeams” featured Joel Griffin on alto sax. The concert was the last jazz concert for Griffin at Southern.

“It’s kind of bittersweet, I feel like I played well tonight but in the same sense saying goodbye to the comfort of playing in familiar surroundings,” Griffin said.

Griffin’s solo in “Polka Dots and Moonbeams” came straight from the heart.

“I kind of got to get up and sing my heart out,” he said.

The last song before intermission, “Wave,” was a song just for the trombone, which featured McKee. “Wave” is written for five trombones to back up a solo trombone.

“This year they had a very good array of different tone colors,” said Lexa Kern, junior music major. “It incorporated all of it, the trumpets especially and the rhythm section and the trombones, which is my favorite.”

After intermission, the orchestra played a Duke Ellington song that most people know the tune but not the name of it. Wise said it’s good to bring something out of the archives that everyone knows. The song featured Robert Terry on bass and Joe Leiter on guitar. The gospel tune “Tall Cotton” started off with a church organ and ended with a church organ solo, but in between the organ the song featured McKee, the sax section and Matt Cameron on trumpet. The next song, “Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most” started off somber but switched into double time in the middle. The song featured Thomas and McKee with an extended cadenza which showed off his technical abilities.

To change things up Wise programmed the song, “You Say You Care,” into the concert which featured the rhythm section with Terry on guitar.

“It just gave our rhythm section a chance to shine,” Wise said. “Also a difference between the big band the rhythm section itself can be very musical as well.”

For the final song Wise selected “Jimmy’s Riff.” “Jimmy’s Riff” was written by Kerry Strayer who was a clinician for the district jazz festival in February. The tune was a blues/swing song that featured Thomas on piano, Griffin on alto sax, Jason Manley on trombone, Ben Peterson on trombone, John Gayman on trumpet, Matt Godsey on tenor sax, Sean Wilson on baritone sax and Micah Martin on drums.

“Micah played an extended solo, couple of solos one in the middle of that one and then an extended solo,” Wise said. “Micah played a great solo in that concert, really got the crowd whipped up into a frenzy at the end of that and showed off a lot of technique and skill.”

Wise said he is looking forward to the fall semester for the next Southern Jazz Orchestra concert.