Jazz Concert Review -- Unlv

Jazz Concert Review -- UNLV Senior Recital

On May 1st, 2012 I had the great opportunity to assist to a senior recital held at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas, at the Paul Harris Theater. Mycah Krason, whose recital it was, is a student of Tom Warrington and Paul Firak and put together this recital as a requirement to graduate from the Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies program at UNLV. While I usually enjoy most of the senior recitals presented by the school, I particularly enjoyed Mycah Krason's, as it featured his own compositions, which impressed me. While I know that many musicians from the music program are able to write music and already perform their own original music in and outside the school, it is always a joy to discover a student's unique musical ear and creativity.

The recital started at 7:30 PM and featured three musicians, other than Mycah Krason: Daniel Alameda on vibes, Tyler McKusick on guitar and Stephen Shapiro on drums. All four are obviously very talented and demonstrated a high level of musicianship in accordance with the skills necessary to graduate from the jazz studies program. The program included five different songs, as follow: Dark Blood on My Dark Poems, Typewriter Killed My 'Tylex Killed My Horse' Title, Liminal Time, Amphibian Plunder and 'Untitled'. All four songs prominently featured Krason's skillful bass playing and with good reason; his teachers should definitely be proud of all the work and effort Krason put into the preparation for this recital. It is also very interesting to note the various influences heard in Krason's music. While he has studied straight up jazz for a few years and certainly know how to play a walking bass and improvise on bebop chord changes, I could distinctly hear a modern twinge to his compositions, which left me wanting more after the evening was over. While Krason certainly draw inspiration from jazz's greatests, he has also tapped into more modern sounds which sets him apart from many other musicians in the program.

One thing that really stood out for me, aside from the great music and high level of musicianship I witnessed is the obvious chemistry between the four musicians. Often times I have heard and seen bands and musical groups play through songs without really looking at each other or communicating through their solos and playing. However, this was not the case. It was very easy to realize that Krason, Alameda, McKusick and Shapiro have been playing with each other for a while and know how to react to each other's inspiration throughout a given song.