Purdue News
Purdue News
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February 2, 2001 Purdue Jazz Band offers "Evening of Romance"WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.– Purdue Jazz Band offers a musical Valentine in its first-ever "Evening of Romance," at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 10, at University Inn, 3001 Northwestern Ave. Tickets for the event, which is open to the public, are $15 and are available by calling (765) 494-3933 or (800) 914-SHOW. University Inn also is offering romantic overnight packages including the night of dancing; call (765) 463-5511 or (800) 777-9808. Designed as an evening of big band jazz for listening and dancing, the event offers seating at candlelit tables plus hors d'oeuvres and desserts. "Traditionally there's that element of romance in going out and listening to big band jazz at a club," says M.T. "Mo" Trout, Purdue Jazz Band director. "At our event we'll have sweets to nibble on, and a nice setting that's informal but formal at the same time." While the nostalgic image of couples clustered around tables in a dimly lit cabaret, and dancing the night away with a jazz saxophone wailing in the background, constitutes a modern image of romance, it's a much less racy image than the earliest ones associated with jazz. In 1890s New Orleans, when jazz was born, the city was a pretty freewheeling place. It was in the brothels, not so much in concert halls, that you found live music. "Every brothel had its own band, and they all tried to do something different to attract customers, whether it was playing the loudest or the sexiest," said Trout, who also teaches a course at Purdue on jazz history. Historians offer different ideas about where the term jazz came from, he said. In early written accounts, jazz was often spelled "jass" or "jasz" which means it could well have been derived from "jaysn," a term used for lovemaking in old New Orleans. One of the most colorful stories about how jazz got its name, and decidedly the most fragrant, is that jazz is short for jasmine. "The scent of jasmine perfume was predominant in New Orleans because prostitutes used to wear it in the brothels where jazz was born," Trout said. "Jazz has taken on a little more sophistication since then." Purdue students, who make up the 23-member jazz band, relate to the more sophisticated image of jazz and romance. "There are lots of great ballads in jazz. I don't even want to know how many songs there are with love in the title," says saxophonist Peter Weber, a senior majoring in psychology from Valparaiso, Ind. And the Purdue Jazz Band will be playing a few of them – "I Love You," "You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You" and "I Love Paris." Other selections like "The Shadow of Your Smile," "Prelude to a Kiss," "Stolen Moments" and "The Kissing Bug" add to the evening's romantic mood. "Not all the music will be sweet," said Trout. "Some will be hot jazz and big band swing. It'll be fun music." Trombonist Bill Eidson, a graduate student in civil engineering from Glenview, Ill., compares jazz to architecture when it comes to mood. "In architecture, some buildings represent power while others are nice, warm, inviting places," he said. "In jazz, some songs have a nice, warm, romantic feel and make you want to get close to someone – and some make you want to get up and dance. When you pick the right music you invoke a feeling of romance." For saxophonist Cosmos Krejci, however, jazz represents love because it's creative. "Love is a creative thing, and jazz is the most creative of art forms," says the freshman engineering major from Bloomington, Ind. "There's just so much freedom of expression in jazz that it's really easy for the love to come through, plus the music is really beautiful." Tickets are available by calling (765) 494-3933 or (800) 914-SHOW. University Inn also is offering romantic overnight packages including the night of dancing; call (765) 463-5511 or (800) 777-9808. CONTACT: Kathy Matter, public relations director, Purdue Bands, (765) 496-6785; kcmatter@purdue.edu
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