Most students consider their classes obligations, and only afterwards do they get to do the things they like to do ““ but not Max Hembd.
“This is something I get to do rather than have to do,” said Hembd, a fourth-year music student in trumpet performance, referring to Kenny Burrell’s Contemporary Jazz Large Ensemble.
The group, which is booking gigs around Los Angeles, will play March 13 at Schoenberg Hall, as well as at the Monterey Jazz Festival’s Next Generation Festival on March 25.
“We were selected from about 30 colleges nationwide, and now we’ll be competing against five other colleges in the Monterey Jazz Festival Next Generation competition,” said Nick DePinna, a fourth-year ethnomusicology student who is a student leader of the ensemble.
The ensemble grew out of two students’ desire to compose pieces for a large ensemble.
“It’s really hard to get groups to rehearse just a piece at a time, so over the summer we started a regularly rehearsing group of musicians we knew would come through,” said Hitomi Oba, a first-year graduate student in music composition, who started the ensemble with DePinna.
The group has grown to include twenty musicians whom DePinna and Oba sought out, and became a class in UCLA’s ethnomusicology department this fall.
“When we got to school this year, Kenny Burrell approached us and asked us to make our group a class,” said DePinna.
The class, taught by Burrell and Roberto Miranda, is student-led by DePinna and Oba, who compose the bulk of the original work and arrange the rest of the ensemble’s pieces, in addition to playing trombone and saxophone, respectively.
“It’s great because we have a set weekly rehearsal time and can use the school’s facilities, which make it easier,” Oba said.
While Burrell and Miranda are in charge of the class, it is the students who run the ensemble.
“They nurture and encourage us to take on leadership positions, which we really appreciate. It helps us find our own musical directions,” Oba said.
Other members of the ensemble appreciate the way the class is run.
“It’s a more professional way of doing music because it’s peer-guided,” said Jake Jamieson, a first-year ethnomusicology student who plays drums and percussion in the ensemble.
Although according to Hembd, the primary goal is to play contemporary jazz, the ensemble has expanded beyond that, starting with the instrumentation.
The ensemble uses the usual big-band format with an array of horns: five saxophones, three trombones and four trumpets, while the rhythm section is expanded to include a Hammond B3 organ and banjo, alongside the piano, bass and drums.
In addition to drums, percussionist Jamieson also plays a wide range of world-percussion instruments.
“We mess with strange instruments, such as metallic parts like pipes and chains to represent an industrial feel,” he said.
Oba thinks this diverse sound is part of the ensemble’s attraction.
“The music seems to appeal to a lot of people. I think it has to do with the fact that we are doing original music, not just big-band stuff,” she said.
DePinna agrees that the original compositions are a key part of the ensemble’s resonance.
“A lot of jazz out there right now is really good, but has a problem connecting to kids our age because the generation making it is so far removed from us. To hear people our age making this in a professional way naturally connects us because we have something in common with the people listening to us,” he said.
DePinna and Oba say that the music they compose draws on both the strengths of the members and their diverse musical interests.
“A lot of our writing is dependent on the people in the group. It ends up being a collaboration because we write for specific musicians,” DePinna said.
With members ranging from ethnomusicology to world music students, from jazz to classical students, the ensemble reflects a wide range of musical backgrounds.
“The music isn’t embedded in the jazz created at a certain time. It draws on the language and improvisation, but contextually draws on so much more,” said Oba.
The resulting sound is described by Jamieson as loud, groove-based and experimental.
“We’re not exactly your normal jazz band,” he said, laughing.
The real allure of the music, however, may have more to do with enthusiasm than notes.
“The music has a true sense of energy and passion; it’s pretty genuine,” DePinna said.
Oba agrees that this sincerity is the defining element of the group.
“We all really enjoy it and really care about the group, and it’s apparent in the performances,” she said.
Hembd agreed.
“I really can’t think of anything I’d rather be doing right now,” he said.