Eric Person and the members of Meta-Four filled the room with music and notes that reached the unthinkable and left the audience entertained after their jazz performance Monday.
With the band being together for a little over a year, touring all over the United States has been nothing less than a dream for the four band members: Jarod Kashkin, piano; Adam Armstrong, bass; Peter O’Brien, drums; and Person, saxophone.
“Right now we are doing a month-long tour promoting our current CD, ‘Rhythm Edge’ which we recorded this past February,” Person said. “We all freelance around in New York, but we are also a part of different musical groups that travel around different parts of Europe.”
With just graduating college this past spring, Kashkin said he would not want to be anywhere or do anything than what he is doing right now.
“The number one thing a jazz musician should do is to listen to those you are playing with because you get to feed off of each other and go from there,” Kashkin said. “Being in this band and getting to play with such talented musicians, it’s almost like an out-of-body experience when it all clicks.”
Being a musician all his life, Person said there was not just one place or one memory he has of where he learned the most or what he remembers the best from his experiences.
“I was in so many different jazz groups in junior high and high school, I really feel like my best playing was just from learning everything that I picked up throughout the years-you learn new things every day and you may not even know it.”
Sitting in on jazz music and having it produce the kind of atmosphere it does, not only gives the audience a sense of relaxation but an urge to understand it more.
“I honestly don’t think there is any other music that has the inner dialogue that jazz does,” Person said. “It’s unique to be apart of, to say the least.”
Freshman Samantha Call said even though she is not majoring in music and was not required to go to the concert, she wanted to be there to listen to the music.
“Just seeing the different styles of music they played was amazing,” Call said. “I liked how they could pick up from where the other one left off and vice versa. It was all kind of random, which is exactly what I liked about it.”
Call said having such an event available for students to listen to, music major or not, is something that a lot of students might take for granted.
“I don’t think a lot of people get the chance to appreciate all of the different types of music that are out there,” she said. “I know I wanted to come listen to them play even if it wasn’t required, just because I like listening to such amazing music.”
Person said people constantly playing and practicing a certain type of music need to have a sense of dedication.
“Music is our life and that’s our focus,” Person said. “We are all extremely fortunate to do what we love to do, and I know not one of us takes it for granted.”
