A Jazzy Valentine: UK Jazz Ensemble celebrates Valentine’s Day
February 16, 2023
The College of Fine Arts put on a Jazzy Valentine’s Day performance at Singletary Center for the Arts on Tuesday, Feb. 14.
The University of Kentucky’s Lab Band opened the concert with a performance directed by Raleigh Dailey.
“Overall it was an awesome concert. The parts where we did have trouble, we were able to come together as a band and watch Raleigh, watch each other, listen to each other and actually put out a really good sound. So it was just a lot of fun,” Dezmond Rogers, one of the Lab Band performers, said.
The UK Jazz Ensemble, directed by Miles Osland, performed following the UK Lab Band.
The performances were viewed by “quite the audience” according to one woman as she tried to find a seat. It was an almost packed house with only a couple tickets left by the end of sales, according to an usher.
Throughout the concert the crowd could be seen clapping or bobbing their heads along to songs like “Hello and Goodbye,” “The Tholian Web” and “The Bop Brothers Latin Vacation”.
Dailey also told the audience that it wouldn’t be a Valentine’s Day concert without a ballad dedicated to love, as the UK Lab Band played “First Love Song”.
The UK Jazz Ensemble ended their performance with a rendition of “My Funny Valentine.”
“The intonation was perfect … they had it together real well, especially for a college group,” an audience member said. ”I’ve listened to a lot of music and I’ve listened to a lot of big bands and jazz bands and they’re getting it.”
The bands received multiple standing ovations, loud cheers and booming claps.
“It was incredible, it’s the best crowd we’ve ever had in the hall, there wasn’t a seat available in that first half and that was incredible. The band played great,” Osland said.