May 27, 2003 – It's not quite a standing gig yet, but let the record show: Last year's June Jazz Vespers concert featured trumpeter Stan Joines with a group of young Crucian musicians, and this year's does, too.
On Sunday — yes, June arrives early as can be for this "first Sunday of the month" concert — Joines will be performing with the Central High School Jazz Combo along with vocalist Black Diamond as special guest.
A year ago, he played for Jazz Vespers with Youth Explosion, an ensemble of current and former CHS Jazz Band musicians. Just two months ago, he and the CHS combo were featured at a Sunset Jazz in Frederiksted concert.
Sunday's program takes place at St. Croix Reformed Church starting at 5:30 p.m. Admission is free, with an offering taken, families are welcome, and seating is first come, first choice. The church is located in Estate La Reine on the hill overlooking the Kingshill Post Office. Young and aspiring musicians are invited to chat with the concert artists at a reception to follow the performance.
Joines has been a St. Croix resident and a member of the Central High School music faculty since 1991. Under his direction the CHS Concert and Jazz Bands took part in the Spectrum Fiesta-Val band competition in Atlanta in 1996; both bands came home with "superior" ratings and second-place rankings. He took both ensembles to Orlando for Disney World competitions in 2000, where they again both received second-place honors.
Last year, for the jazz band, it was back to the Atlanta Spectrum Fiesta-Val event — where the ensemble under Joines' direction walked off with not only another "superior" rating but the title of Grand Champions of the Fiesta.
The CHS Jazz Combo currently is: Wayne Christian (tenor saxophone), Rufino Morales (alto sax and percussion), Michael Tyson (keyboard), Andrew Brady (bass), Emilio Edwards (drums) and Alejandro Quinones (percussion).
The jazz group typically performs 60 to 70 engagements a year, from concerts to conventions to club dates, including a regular Friday gig at the Lobster Reef in LaVallee. Between the instruction they get in school and the opportunities they have for performing in the community, CHS jazz students have an enviable track record for acceptance at and scholarships to some of the country's top music schools.
Joines was introduced to jazz by his high school teachers in Macon, Georgia, and counts among his early influences Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard and Doc Severinsen. He graduated from Mercer University and sat in on many a jam session with members of the Almon Brothers Band in Macon. "We didn't play their record tunes. We would play 'Green Dolphin Street' and straight-ahead tunes like that," he recalls.
Black Diamond, who grew up in New York City, got her first formal vocal training with the Featherbed Lane Freedom Community Choir, which was known for its "Jazz Mass" performances. She also has appeared in such musicals as "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "The Wiz." After moving to St. Croix in 1977 she met sax legend Rudy Shulterbrandt and, under his influence, began to explore jazz singing seriously. They performed together at the first St. Croix Jazz in Paradise Festival.
Jazz Vespers is made possible in part by the contributions from Owen Johnson Electric, Beeston Hill Clinical Lab, Carringtons Inn St. Croix and The Blue Moon.
The remainder of the summer Jazz Vespers lineup looks like this: drummer Dave McKean on July 6, an act to be announced for Aug. 3 — which will mark the start of the concert series' third season — and Paradise on Sept. 7.
For more information, call Willard Fields at 719-3672 or Pastor Rod Koopmans at 778-0520 or e-mail to Jazz Vespers.
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