On Oct. 25 and 26, Dartmouth’s Coast Jazz Orchestra held their first performances of the term at Sawtooth Kitchen. The appearances were the orchestra’s first time performing at Sawtooth as a full band, according to director Taylor Ho Bynum.
The Coast sets itself apart from other jazz groups at the College with its “odd” instrumentation — breaking from the jazz norm of saxophones, trumpets, trombones and a rhythm section by adding a string quartet, flutist and clarinet this term, student manager Elaine Chi ’25 said.
“We have historically had unconventional instruments in our ensemble,” Chi added.
The ensemble currently consists of 22 members and a wide range of instruments, Bynum said. Although the particular instruments have fluctuated from term to term, the group has always featured nontraditional ones, according to Bynum. Specifically, the band has previously included bassoons, harps and, at one point, 10 drummers in a term, he said.
“[The Coast] draws upon a tradition that might have a specific instrumentation, but ultimately, I think the expression of the music is very instrument-agnostic,” Bynum said.
The first set contained five songs played front to back with some solos interspersed. Pieces ranged from swing to funk and varied in their tempo, performers and the sections they featured.
Bynum described the second set of the night as a “breakdown” of the charts played during the first set. Bynum directed the band through a 30-minute performance without breaks by holding up numbers or writing commands on a whiteboard.
The second set weaved together the charts from the first set, bringing back old themes and extending solo sections. Often, portions of the band would completely improvise music using notes and chords from the earlier pieces.
Both sets included the song “Mr. Jerk,” composed by Bynum. The song is a funk tune set to lyrics from “The Temp,” a blackout poem — a poem created by erasing parts of an existing poem or text — created using William Shakespeare’s play “The Tempest,” Bynum said. Both sets also featured the somewhat more traditional swing song “Chickadee,” composed by current Coast trumpet player Amy Norton ’23.
Norton has composed multiple pieces for the group and does the group’s transposition, which involves taking existing music and putting it into different musical keys for different instruments, Norton said. Bynum noted that Norton’s work makes it possible for the orchestra to work with a wide variety of parts.
The audition process for the group reflects Bynum’s desire to diverge from the jazz norm, according to Chi. Bynum looks for individuals with a “passion for music” and a willingness to learn a new style, Bynum said. Anyone is welcome to audition on any instrument, and many auditionees have no jazz experience before coming into the group, Chi added.
“It’s a little scary, jumping into improv, but [Bynum] makes it a wonderful environment to start learning how,” Chi said.
Eight new members joined the Coast this year — one of the band’s largest groups of new members, according to Bynum. During their first few weeks in the band, new members get used to the conventions of jazz and learn how to function within the group, according to Gracie Kim ’25, who joined in the fall of her junior year.
Despite having no jazz experience coming into the group, Kim said she felt welcomed by the community.
“It’s just a space everyone can feel really comfortable in,” she said. “I wish I [had] joined earlier.”
New member Kyriakos Papasavas ’28 said he has bonded with other members over a shared love of creating music since joining the band.
“Once I step into that room, I know for the next two hours that I don’t have to worry about my academics or anything,” Papasavas said. “I can leave that all outside and just blow on my horn and have a lot of fun.”
Each concert week — referred to as a “Coast Week” — has been a time for the band to grow closer, Chi said. During Coast Weeks, rehearsals last an extra hour and the musicians tend to gather more outside of practice, she said.
In the past, concerts were held at the Hopkins Center for the Arts. During construction on the Hopkins Center, however, the concerts have been performed at the Collis Center for Student Life, Rollins Chapel and the Hanover Inn Ballroom, Bynum said. However, the group is set to perform in Sawtooth for the foreseeable future.
The Coast has multiple performances lined up at Sawtooth Kitchen throughout the rest of the school year, Bynum said. He added that the group plans to have smaller jazz ensembles perform at Sawtooth for three Mondays each term and for another weekend series with the full band during the winter term.
In the spring, the Coast will perform a special concert dedicated to the seniors in the ensemble, who each get to choose a feature song or create their own compositions, Kim said.
Chi encouraged interested students to join the ensemble.
“If they’re interested in it, they should just give it a shot because it’s such an awesome community and I’ve never ever looked back since joining,” Chi said.
