Some people might frown at the idea of two hours of jazz, but there were no frowns on the faces of the people that sat through the Colors as Time concert at Cairn Friday night on October 20th. Colors as Time is a new and upcoming jazz band started by Cairn professor Joshua Stamper, who is much loved by the students. As the pamphlet described, the concert music was a mixture between “classical, jazz, folk, and experimental textures” that were all combined to give a breath-taking performance.

Dr. Benjamin Harding gave a quick introduction before the musicians took their places on stage. The performance started slow, to ease the audience into the music, slowly introducing each instrument and then joining them together in beautiful and jazzy harmony. Different textures of the music were definitely noticeable. At some points in the performance, as the piano played, it gave a hint of classical music to it. At other moments in the performance, while the accordion was being played, the song had a more folky tune, making the piece very distinct from the others. Perhaps the songs with the Rhodes piano were the crowd favorites. The Rhodes piano is a variation of the keyboard which is big and metallic, creating more metal/synthetic sounds. This instrument, plus the effect of the suspense peddle, gave the music a modern and electronic sound, without losing the rhythm and essence of jazz. It was certainly astounding to hear it play as, solo after solo after solo, it won the audience’s immediate applause.

Just as impressive as the Rhodes piano were the trumpet, saxophone, clarinet, and flute. These instruments were the glue that held the whole music together, and the musicians did a beautiful job with them. Each of them got a solo part during the last song so that the audience could listen one last time to the attention-catching sounds that came from these instruments. The crowd loved this band so much they had to do an encore. Colors as Time got two standing ovations: at the end of the concert and at the end of the encore, and it was well deserved. They are definitely welcomed to play at Cairn again, even though we do not when when this will occur again. This crowd will receive them with open arms, and make others join them to listen to their unique mixed sound.

Make sure to come out for Cairn’s Christmas concert on December 7th!