At 7:30 p.m. this Friday, March 3, in Bjorling Recital Hall, there will be three Gustavus faculty members who will be performing their original compositions. They will be joined by two additional musicians, Gary Peterson, a bassist, and Cory Healey on drums.

These five musicians will be performing in a jazz combo which includes one sax, piano, trombone, drumset, and bass. Director of Gustavus Jazz Lab Band, Dave Stamps; Visiting Assistant Professor in Music, Masayoshi Ishikawa; and Adjunct Instructor of Saxophone, Combos, and World Music, Donnie Norton have each contributed to the program of the concert.

The group will be performing six pieces together, three by Ishikawa, two by Stamps, and one by Norton. These six pieces have been composed recently, and introduce concepts of improvisation not usually seen in faculty recitals.

All five musicians have to practice on their own, and then get together to rehearse everything together.

“Many of the pieces on Friday’s concert were written over the last couple of years. As is common in the jazz/commercial music world, the rehearsals happen the day of,” Stamps said. “Jazz composition is a little different than traditional composition in that it blends composition with improvistion. So much of what you hear on Friday will deli-cately and spontaneously balance those two elements.”

What is unique about this recital in comparison to other faculty recitals, is that these pieces were all composed by the members of the group playing them. When writing and playing their compositions, these musicians had the opportunity to express their thoughts through music, rather than words.

Ishikawa uses his original compositions to reflect a part of who he is to the audience.

“Each of them has a very different perspective of how I view things and how I feel things,” Ishikawa said. “It’s almost like introducing myself, this is how I feel, this is how I think.”

Most of the compositions have a backstory or personal reason for why they were composed, and this is the case for the pieces being performed in this recital.

The piece that Norton composed is titled “Tim the Enchanter”. “Tim the Enchanter” was inspired by the music of trumpeter Tim Hagans, who has a unique way of playing chromatically over standard chord changes.

“This tune is a contrafact, or a song that features a new melody over an existing set of chord changes. In this case, I wrote a new melody over the chord changes to George Gershwin’s ‘I Got Rhythm.’ The title also draws inspiration from one of John Cleese’s characters in Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” Norton said.

Stamps has two pieces that he has composed that will be performed at the recital.

‘“In December (The Songbird Flew Away)’ is about a lost love that disappeared one winter, only to re-emerge a year later as a celebrity. ‘Deuces Wild’ is a highly improvised work that will evolve in the moment. It requires the musicians to communicate form, style, and direction on stage without words,” Stamps said.

One of the three pieces composed by Ishikawa that will be performed at the recital is an original composition written in 2012 titled “Impermanence.”

Ishikawa, who is from Japan, composed the piece as a positive message for commemorating those who lost loved ones during the tsunami.

An earthquake followed the tsunami in Japan. During that earthquake, a nuclear plant exploded about 70 miles from Ishikawa’s hometown.

The radiation from the plant has been damaging the area around it, and is no longer livable. Many of the people who lived there had to leave, and will never be able to come back in their lifetime.

The anger and sadness were felt by these people and served as inspiration for the piece. The piece carries a lot of emotion, giving the audience the chance to create a connection. This is the reason that Ishikawa likes to perform this piece last when he shares his compositions.

Stamps, Ishikawa, and Norton, are all excited to present their own pieces, but are also thankful and honored to perform pieces composed by phenomenal musicians who are also their colleagues.

Not only are the performers looking forward to the recital, but students are also eager to attend. Sophomore music minor Nicole Waskosky is very excited to be able to go.

“I had Masa as a Professor last semester and I really enjoyed listening to his improv work in class, so I can’t wait to see his full composing capability! I’m also interested in his inspiration for composing these pieces. I’ve heard some stories about why he loves music, so it will be exciting to see his passion for music really shine throughout his compositions,” Waskosky said.

The concert may also be a little different in terms of staging for both the performers and the audience.

“We will most likely bring a bunch of chairs up on stage for guests to sit in, hopefully mak-ing it feel like a more intimate jazz club than a recital hall. Anyone who enjoys contemporary jazz music and improvisation will have a great time,” Stamps said.

Everyone at Gustavus is encouraged to attend the recital. The faculty musicians performing in the recital especially encourage younger students who may not be familiar with or have many opportunities to experience live music to attend. The connection between listening to music has changed due to technology, but they still see a huge difference between listening on a device and listening in real time. Student musicians are also urged to attend, because as a musician, listen-ing to live music can provide an opportunity to further appreciate the medium as well as have an emotional and connective experience.