Drake Jazz Ensembles
Jazz Ensembles
Drake University's Jazz Program is vibrant and active with various ensembles including Drake Jazz I, Drake Jazz II, Drake Vocal Jazz Singers, and several other combos. They perform multiple concerts on and off-campus every year. Additionally, the Department of Music has jazz faculty that are professional musicians for every jazz instrument.
Drake Jazz I, under the direction of Prof. Andrew Classen, is Drake University's premier jazz ensemble. The jazz program is very vibrant and active around the regional area. Drake Jazz I tours regionally every year, and it has won the collegiate division at the UW-Eau Claire Jazz Festival all eight times the ensemble has attended. The ensemble, along with touring regionally every year, tours internationally every four years. In 2018, Drake Jazz I traveled to China and performed for the Ambassador at the U.S. Embassy. The ensemble also traveled to South America for another international tour in 2022. Other countries they have performed in are England, Holland, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy.
Drake Jazz II, under the direction of Prof. Wayne Page, is dedicated to the performance of the historically significant repertoire of the past (e.g., Basie, Ellington, Jones), while also exposing students to recent compositions and arrangements. Composed of students from throughout Drake University with various fields of interest, this ensemble is open to all students through audition. The ensemble presents three on-campus performances every year, as well as several off-campus performances. These are designed to assist students with their continued development of their jazz musicianship and ensemble skills.
Drake Vocal Jazz Singers is the premier vocal jazz ensemble within the Department of Music at Drake University. Under the direction of Dr. Ann Cravero, Drake Vocal Jazz Singers is an auditioned group of students that consists of approximately sixteen vocalists stemming from a wide variety of academic majors, including music, across campus. The ensemble explores a diverse range of vocal jazz literature that fosters vocal, harmonic, rhythmic, and theoretical development, as well as cultural and historical awareness.
Performances include ensemble and solo singing opportunities with a jazz combo. Drake Vocal Jazz Singers has performed in masterclasses for Grammy nominated vocal jazz artists Kate McGarry and Judy Carmichael (Civic Music Association guest artists), Rosana Eckert (Turner Center Jazz Orchestra guest artist), as well as Gabriel Espinosa (Latin American Jazz Ensemble) and Jennifer Barnes (University of North Texas) at the SMV Vocal Jazz Festival.
For more information about Drake Vocal Jazz Singers, please contact Dr. Ann Cravero.
Turner Jazz Center
The Patty & Fred Turner Jazz Center is home to Drake Jazz I, Drake Jazz II, and Drake Vocal Jazz Singers. It was acoustically designed specifically for jazz performances. All jazz classes and ensemble rehearsals take place in this space. It is also a state-of-the-art recording facility, rivaling professional studios. Drake Jazz I utilizes these recording capabilities throughout the school year, and each semester, the ensemble produces an album's worth of studio quality recordings with videos, which are posted on YouTube.
The studio possesses a 32 channel D-Command console driving ProTools recording software. Students can learn about recording engineering and gain hands-on experience with this equipment through our Jazz Recording Techniques (MUS 144). Other recording classes deal with integration of recorded audio and video for social media distribution.
The recording process for Drake Jazz I mirrors what would happen in a professional studio in New York City or Los Angeles. Everyone is individually hooked to a microphone, and through playback, mistakes can be identified and corrected, which creates the highest level studio recording.
Jazz Ensemble Audition Information
Auditioning for a Drake Jazz Ensemble is a fun and easy way to get involved in the Drake Jazz Program.
Auditions are held in the Turner Jazz Center (located at the northwest corner of the Harmon Fine Arts Center) on the first evening of each semester at the following times:
- Rhythm Section: 6:30pm-7:45pm
- Trumpets: 7:45pm-8:30pm
- Trombones: 8:30pm-9:15pm
- Saxophones: 9:15pm-10:00pm
Wind players will be asked to demonstrate their skill in sight-reading with optional improvisation. Rhythm section players will have to meet the same requirements as wind players in sight-reading and improvisation, as well as demonstrate any skills unique to their instrument (i.e. comping, walking bass lines, etc.).
Results are posted the next afternoon in the Fine Arts Center in time for that evening's rehearsal (rehearsals begin the first week of every semester). If you have any questions, please contact Prof. Andrew Classen.
Jazz I meets Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12:20pm-1:50pm in the Turner Jazz Center.
Jazz II meets Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:00pm-3:20pm in the Turner Jazz Center during the fall semester. The ensemble meets Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 12:00pm-12:50pm during the spring semester.
Jazz I Conductor: Andrew Classen, Professor of Trumpet and Patty and Fred Turner Professor of Jazz Studies
Jazz II Conductor: Colin Young, Teaching Artist of Saxophone