The Jazz Ensemble focuses on the big band sound; it also provides opportunities for student improvisation within an ensemble context, and for students to have their own charts and arrangements read. The ensemble performs several concerts on and off campus each year.

The Jazz Ensemble has played with, or been coached by, guest artists who include world-class musicians Milt Hinton (bass), Clark Terry (trumpet), the Mitchell/Ruff Duo (horn, bass, piano), and Joe Williams (vocal).

Jazz Combo

The Combo is a small select band (or bands) made up of members of the larger ensemble. They rehearse under the direction of Prof. Condon, and they also rehearse on their own. They play concerts with the ensemble as well as their own gigs.

Jazz Improvisation

Prof. Condon teaches a partial-credit course each semester in Jazz Improvisation. Students in the ensembles gain more experience with improv, and students who are not yet ready to join the ensembles gain valuable experience and skill in jazz and improv.

Our Director

Gabe Condon, Assistant Professor of Music, has performed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Dizzy’s Club, and Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre. He is a YoungArts Silver Award winner as well as a three-time Downbeat Magazine Student Music Award recipient. In 2022, he received a DAAD German Academic Exchange Service grant to perform and conduct research in Berlin, Germany. Condon’s research focuses on the intersection of Constructivist learning theory and jazz pedagogy in the context of European Sinti communities.

Previously, Prof. Condon taught as the instructor of jazz guitar at Washington State University, and as a lecturer of jazz studies at Ithaca College. He earned his B.M. and M.M. in jazz and contemporary media from the Eastman School of Music, and his Doctor of Musical Arts in jazz and contemporary improvisation from the University of Michigan.