Orrin Evans' Captain Black Big Band performed at the Missouri Theatre in Columbia, Missouri as part of the "We Always Swing" Jazz series and sponsored by the State Historical Society of Missouri. The band's performance was dedicated to painter Thomas Hart Benton and his murals depicting aspects of African American life in Missouri. The band received a standing ovation for their two-set performance featuring works like the Harlem Suite, which was only the second time performed live. The band's lively and energetic playing was praised for its quality.

1. http://www.voxmagazine.com/news/mizzou/orrin-evans-captain-black-big-band-delivers-a-home-
run/article_359a9576-cbc6-11e5-b889-27b98bdf942c.html
Orrin Evans' Captain Black Big Band delivers a
home run performance
Sponsored by the "We Always Swing" Jazz series and The State Historical Society of Missouri,
Orrin Evans' Captain Black Big Band received a standing ovation after its performance on
Thursday at the Missouri Theatre
BEN LANDIS FEB 5, 2016
Photo courtesy of Gene Jackson/Flickr

2. Guests adorned in jackets and hats trickled in from the cold and windy Thursday night air into
the Missouri Theatre where they were greeted by the sound of warm and soothing jazz music
played over multiple speakers. Inside the red and gold decorated theatre and underneath an
intricately designed towering arch, a stage housed six empty chairs, a drum set, a wooden string
bass and a glistening black piano. As murmured conversations and greetings from the guests
started to conclude, the lights dimmed. A black leather piano bench sat as if it were waiting for
someone.
It was waiting for the leader of the Captain Black Big Band, two-time Grammy award nominee,
and Pew Fellow Orrin Evans.
After a mildly tearful introduction, Orrin Evans, Todd Bashore, Troy Roberts, Joshua Evans, Josh
Lawrence, David Gibson, Stafford Hunter, Madison Rast and Anwar M. Marshal took their seats
and began the performance dedicated to the Missouri painter Thomas Hart Benton
and sponsored by the "We Always Swing" Jazz Series and The State Historical Society of
Missouri.
WHO IS THOMAS HART BENTON?
Black History Month began on Feb. 1, and MU's Black History Month Committee along with
many other departments around the university organized multiple events that will span through
the month. It started off with the mural painter Thomas Hart Benton and one of his paintings as
a point of focus.
One of Benton's murals, A Social History of the State of Missouri, hangs in the Missouri State
Capitol Building in Jefferson City. The piece is immense and depicts many aspects of daily life.
After all, The State Historical Society's website says, "His paintings are famous for showing
ordinary people doing common things." He was commissioned to do the mural in 1935, and he
completed it in 1937.
In the work, Benton depicts part of the African-American experience in Missouri with his images
that are representative of the ill treatment of slaves or slavery. He is also famous for works such
as The Negro Soldier; Cotton Pickers, Georgia and Trail Riders.
Many of his pieces could be described as flowing, vibrant and colorful. That description could
also be attributed to the performance of Orrin Evans' Captain Black Big Band.
SET ONE: SHOWTIME

3. As the applause settled, Evans sat at the piano and organized the music along with his
bandmates. Then, with a few quick snaps of the fingers to set the beat up, the roaring of the
glimmering brass instruments blared through the theatre. The performance opened with an
energy. The audience applauded after a solo during the first of six uninterrupted jazz songs. That
changed as the concert moved into the second piece. The vibe in the room became more calm as
the music had a swing to it. The changing of emotion, tempos, rhythms and sounds was a
persistent characteristic of the entire first set. If it were any different, it wouldn't be jazz.
The band members appeared as if they were having fun with what they were doing. Evans, who
sat on stage right, occasionally looked across the way at his bandmates and smiles were shared.
As the concert went on, Evans gave his crew recognition by naming them along with their
respective instruments.
A vocalist, Joanna Pascale, appeared about midway through the first set and caressed the
audience with her lullaby-esque voice. The calmness once achieved during the second part of the
set was trumped by her sultry voice.
For an unexperienced ear, the eclectic sounds that characterized the music of the band were hard
to understand, but that wasn't the point. To jazz enthusiasts, the music may have made had a
different level of appeal than that of the amateur or first-time listener. Still, the fact remains that
regardless of knowledge, in regards to jazz, the quality that came to Missouri theatre was
astounding.
SET TWO: A SPECIAL TREAT WITH THE HARLEM SUITE
Take two. The sophomoric debut of Josh
Lawrence's Harlem Suite was part of the celebration. It
was five movements of nonstop jazz that did not
disappoint. The only other time that the arrangement had
been performed was when it was originally commissioned
by the Metropolitan Museum of Art last year. The Suite
continued to carry the up-and-down mantra that had been
present throughout the 10-person band's performance.
One of the movements was solely ballads, and then the
energy returned to conclude the piece. Again, solos
bounced off of the walls and carried to the back of the
theatre. Evans' theatrical movements and intensity on the
keys was a show, but perhaps the greatest treat of the
Orinn Evans' Captain Black Big Band

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Ben Landis
evening was knowing that Columbia was given the
opportunity to hear the unique and quality jazz music from
the talented musicians of the Captain Black Big Band.
The performance concluded and the audience raised from the seats, but the applause eventually
brought the musicians back onto the stage to play one last song. They closed with a song,
"Stardust," composed by jazz musician Hoagy Carmichael and sang by many other jazz
musicians.
discusses the intricacies and the
motivations behind the Harlem Suite on
stage in the Missouri Theatre. It was only
the second time that the work has ever
been played for a live audience.
BEN LANDIS/VOX
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