Story by Amy Turner, Staff writer
Photo by Nick Bohannon/The News
The historic Lovett Auditorium stage has hosted many performances. On Tuesday, April 24, it was the location for the Swing into Spring Jazz Concert.
This event was broadcast live on WKMS, Murray State’s NPR radio station. Directed by Todd Hill and Jonathan Nash, it featured the musical talents of the Murray State Jazz Orchestra, Jazz Band and both of the Blue and Gold Jazz Combos. Vocal performances were also given by Kayla Marie Little and Melanie Davis.
The concert was presented as a 1930s-style live radio broadcast. Between performances both the live and listening audiences were entertained by the “Dynamic Duo” Dr. Robert McGaughey and Dr. Robert Valentine. The two worked together to provide comedy bits throughout the show.
“We’ve been doing conferences, conventions, and comedy clubs since back in the late seventies,” Valentine said. “So we started developing some material from the old radio days.”
The crowd was encouraged to sit near the front and applaud loudly to help further the 1930s live broadcast environment. Georgann Ingram and Tasha Norris helped with this, holding applause signs to help direct the live audience.
Swing into Spring featured “Cruisin’ for a Bluesin,’” “When You Wish Upon a Star” and many other jazz favorites.
Allison Grace, a freshman from Herrin, Illinois, attended the show to support some friends who were in it.
“Overall it was amazing… literally amazing,” Grace said. “I came from a school that did not have a jazz program, so I do not have a lot of interaction with it but this was super good.”
The vocal performances also earned high praise from the audience.
“My favorite part was the jazz orchestra with Melanie Davis,” Grace said. “Her voice is that old and retro jazz style. It was really good.”
Valentine mirrored her praise of the vocalists, complimenting their ability to sing in the jazz style, which is very difficult.
“All of those musicians were marvelous,” Valentine said. “I thought it was terrific, the whole thing.”