McCrary Theatre received a taste of New Orleans with a concert from Tuba Skinny, a seven-piece Jazz ensemble based in Louisiana. The show was full of foot-tapping and spirited, complex solos from each of the different instrumentalists.
The band was founded in 2009 as a traditional jazz ensemble and has since toured around the world, bringing what their website calls “the full genealogy of popular American music from an early 20th century perspective” to international audiences.
The concert was just one part of Elon’s Jazz Festival, a six-day event that includes concerts, guest musicians and workshops for middle and high school students from as far as Washington D.C. This year’s festival is themed around New Orleans.
Alex Heitinger is an assistant professor of music and the director of the Jazz Studies minor. He coordinated the jazz festival and said that the concert provided an experience for his jazz history students that went beyond the classroom.
“I think this kind of music is way better live,” Heitinger said. “A group like this really brings it to life.”
Heitinger said that he feels that events like the concert are essential for all Elon students, not just those studying music.
“Live music is just such an important part of life,” he said. “Especially for young people today, where so much of it is technology-based.”
Tuba Skinny’s visit also held a personal touch for Heitinger, who played traditional jazz with the band’s banjo player over a decade ago.
While there were students in the crowd, the majority of the packed house was made up of older community members, which Heitinger said is typical of jazz events on campus.
Mary Carthryn Murray is a resident at Burlington’s Twin Lakes retirement home, which brought buses of residents to Elon’s campus for the show. Not typically a jazz fan, she said she initially was intrigued by the band’s name.
“I actually thought it was going to be a whole group of tubas on the stage,” she said.
And while the group featured a variety of instruments, and only one tuba, Murray enjoyed the energetic nature of the concert. She said she takes any opportunity to come to events at Elon, saying she feels “blessed” having opportunities to see things she’d never seek out on her own.
“I’m really glad we live so close to Elon, it’s just a really great place and I love being around the students,” Murray said.