The Randy Holmes Quintet, a five-person jazz ensemble, performed Monday, Jan. 25 at Webster. The performance brought jazz lovers and students from around the area to the Winifred Moore Auditorium to listen to the group’s arrangement in the first concert of the Spring season. Frontman Randy Holmes has been playing jazz for over 40 years.
“I’m looking forward to playing these eight tunes that I’ve programmed with all of my wonderful colleagues that I’ve worked with in this group for about 15 years,” quintet leader, trumpet and flugelhorn player, Randy Holmes, said.
In preparation for the performance, Holmes wrote and compiled several arrangements and decided which tunes to perform with the group.
“We got this together in basically one rehearsal,” Holmes said. “They’re all professionals; we all speak the same language.”
The other members of The Randy Holmes Quintet are tenor saxophone player, Larry Smith; pianist, Carolbeth True; bassist, Eric Warren; and drummer, Kevin Gianino. The group mostly starts out with a melody as an ensemble, then take rounds of improvised solos, and then usually reprise the melody for the end.
“You get to do what you want to do, that’s the wonderful advantage to having a group under your own name,” Holmes said.
Marie Genoni attended with her husband. She said they live right across the road and is a music junkie.
“I like hearing smaller groups of musicians; they get more of a chance to shine,” Genoni said.
Junior Tom Watkins, a composition major, received recital attendance by going to the performance. He said he is very interested in jazz because of the freedom and expression it offers to musicians.
“I checked them out before I came and they sound really good,” Watkins said.
Photos by Chelsie Hollis
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