With so much talent in its ranks, the Nebraska Jazz Orchestra is
featuring some of the band’s stellar soloists this season.
Saxophonist Paul Haar took honors Friday night at The Cornhusker
with a program called “Sax and the City.”
Director of jazz studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln,
Haar is a regular member of the NJO sax section. This was his first
night in the limelight.
“Perdido,” a favorite from the Duke Ellington songbook, warmed
up the band and the audience of 320, which were relegated to the
rather inferior, lower-level Lancaster Room for the concert due to
a conflicting event in the main ballroom.
The guest soloist first took the stage for a lilting version of
the standard “There Will Never be Another You,” arranged by former
Haar mentor Don Galley. On alto sax, Haar demonstrated the
self-assurance of a veteran, stating the melody and soloing with
ease and inspiration. Peter Bouffard also contributed a tasteful
solo.
A Dirk Fischer arrangement of Cole Porter’s “You’d Be So Nice to
Come Home To” followed in a lightly swinging tempo. Tom Harrell’s
lovely “Sail Away” was a pleasant surprise as arranged by UNL
composer-in-residence Eric Richards for tenor saxophone, flutes,
bass clarinet and muted trumpets. True to its title, the tune was
breezy, wind-driven and warm.
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