TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2026
Always casual, and always phenomenal. Members of the LVC Jazz Faculty performed a few tunes at March’s Common Hour Jazz. The set included two charts off of some of Dr. Justin Morell’s earlier albums, and concluded with two compositions by Dr. Jeff Lovell. Dr. Morell, on guitar, and Dr. Lovell, on piano, were joined by professors Larry Marshall on drums and Ryan Kuhns on upright bass.
In a world becoming increasingly digital and simulated, there’s not much out there that is as human and connected as live jazz. Especially with musicians who have worked together before and are experts on their instruments, as is the case with the jazz faculty at LVC. It really is a performance you have to be in the room for (if you want to hear some performances that you don’t have to be in the room for, check out the Valley X-tet’s album, Riddled, featuring compositions by several LVC jazz faculty members). There’s an almost tangible energy, a continuous back-and-forth between the musicians that really makes a performance click.
Common Hour Jazz began with the exciting, lively “Spaceshots,” which was followed with a second Morell composition, a more experimental, creative piece called “Who the Hell is Bob?” “Freefall,” the third tune, by Dr. Jeff Lovell, slowed it down a little. The set concluded with a recently and beautifully written piece by Dr. Jeff Lovell, for which an official name has not quite been decided, though it will have something to do with butterflies. That’s about as real as it gets. Come enjoy Common Hour Jazz at LVC, every last Tuesday of the month at 11am in the Blair Music Center at LVC!
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