Drake Jazz I

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 I Meeting Times:

• Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12:20pm-1:50pm in Turner Jazz Center.

Turner Jazz Center

The Patty & Fred Turner Jazz Center is home to Drake Jazz I and Jazz II. 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 has 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 course (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.

During the coronavirus pandemic, Drake Jazz I switched to recording by section with social distancing and produced seven complete videos in the fall 2020 semester alone. To enjoy these videos, please click here.