Gerry Kunkel and Tom Baldwin combos bring the soul on night one of Fall Chamber Jazz

Gerry Kunkel combo (top) and Tom Baldwin combo (bottom) performed at the University of Maryland in the 2019 Fall Chamber Jazz concert. (Jaime Williams/The Black Explosion)

The Fall Chamber Jazz concert did exactly what it set out to do.

Bring the soul.

The first day in a two-part showcase began Tuesday evening on Nov. 5 in the Gildenhorn Recital Hall of the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center.

The concert had two performances. The first performance was by the Gerry Kunkel Combo comprised of seven musicians and the second was by the Tom Baldwin combo comprised of six musicians. 

“A combo is usually anywhere from three to eight or so people, it’s like a small jazz band,” said Joey Marcellino, fifth-year jazz saxophone, physics and philosophy triple major. “The names come from either the grad students or professors that coach the combos.”

The Gerry Kunkel combo included Max Gergits playing the trumpet, Keegan Couse blowing the tenor saxophone, Jan Knutson strumming the guitar, Evan Williamson also thrumming guitar, Will Parker sounding off on the piano, Jeff Reed tooting the bass and Michael Kuhl holding down  the drums.

The Tom Baldwin combo included Hart Guonjian-Pettit trumpeting, Joey Marcellino playing alto and tenor saxophone, Mike Quinlivan strumming guitar, Henry Meade performing on the piano, Ryan Synk blowing the bass and Kennan Spencer drumming.

The musicians played a plethora of songs such as “Freight Trane” by Tommy Flanagan, “Ana Maria” by Wayne Shorter and “Saudade” by Walter Booker. In total, the Gerry Kunkel Combo played six songs and Tom Baldwin combo played five songs. 

Each combo performed songs that were upbeat and some that were smooth and calm. No matter what was being played, each song was met or followed by a roaring applause or loud woos.

When the jazz bands played, the audience was locked into the performance, tapping their feet and nodding their heads. 

Luke Murphy, percussion performance and jazz studies major said that the songs that were played were awesome.

“Everybody who played was really great,” Murphy said. “All the arrangements were really cool.”

Juan Arias, a sophomore music education major, said the performances were excellent and that he enjoyed hearing both of the combos.

Hart Guonjian-Pettit, jazz performance master’s student major who played the trumpet said the concert was fun, the professors did a great job organizing everyone and the sound and tech people did their job well.

“We’ve been rehearsing all semester and our combo coach has been providing great feedback to us,” Guonjian-Pettit said. 

The last day of the concert performance is on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. The concert is free and open to the public.