By Amanda Berg
On February 23rd, at the Libby Gardner Hall at the University of Utah, the Salt Lake Choral Artists presented a remarkably enjoyable concert, Singing the Blues: Jazz and Blues in Sacred Music. I can describe it as such–have you ever gone to a Catholic mass and thought: I really wish this had some jazz chords and the songs were about 70 beats per minute faster? Me neither, but I got to experience it anyway, and it was quite the hoot. The Salt Lake Choral Artists are known for their renditions of many religious pieces, but I had never seen or heard them do unconventional takes on religious pieces until now. Director Dr. Brady R. Allred chose the pieces he did as introductions to the premiering piece, “Mass in Blue” by Will Todd.
Imagine going to a Mormon Tabernacle Choir concert with jazz chords. That is what this felt like. They sung pieces such as the traditional hymns “Sunshine in My Soul” and “Amazing Grace” but taken up a notch with glitzy harmonies and nonstandard rhythms. I especially loved the arrangement of “Amazing Grace,” entitled “How Sweet the Sound,” by Mark Hayes. It feels like, as best as I can describe, “Amazing Grace” meets “Margaritaville.” The piece before intermission, “Let us Break Bread Together” has a beautiful soprano soloist, Diane Shaffer, whose wonderful personality showed through her singing, as it felt like she was truly inviting you into her home for dinner.
The final piece, and the entire second act, “Mass in Blue,” was an incredibly untraditional six-part Latin mass, which began fast and swinging, slowed down to feature blues-like rhythms, and ended with a bang. Soloist Kayla Petrille was great at what scatting, which is jazz improvisation, but in this case was especially fascinating because she improvised the rhythms and notes but used her Latin lyrics at the same time rather than traditional scat syllables. Other amazing musicians featured throughout this piece as well as the rest of the performance were pianist Tony Elison, who has performed on jazz piano with SLCA since he was in high school; Laurel Ann Hendricksen (piano), Chris Morgan (upright bass), and Mike Peck (drum set). No jazz performance would be complete without a killer rhythm section. Together with the choirs, there was unstoppable talent. I do wish the choir would let loose and bring in more of a jazz/gospel singing style, however. I believe including those from the culture that created these genres of music could enhance the performance and make it more authentic.
Though this performance was a one-time show, the SLCA has many more performances on their schedule for the next few months. If you want to hear beautiful, challenging, and unique choral music, check out their website for future performances.
Salt Lake Choral Artists presents: Singing the Blues: Jazz and Blues in Sacred Music
Libby Gardner Hall, 1375 Presidents’ Cir, Salt Lake City, UT 84112
February 23, 2019 7:30 PM
Tickets: $15-$20
Salt Lake Choral Artists Facebook Page
Singing the Blues: Jazz and Blues in Sacred Music Facebook Event
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