Student jazz groups present vocal talents

A wide range of deep-rooted and more modern selections from a tri-group collaboration of student vocalists created a funky mood for jazz lovers Tuesday evening at the Union Colony Civic Center.

The Vocal Jazz Concert enveloped featured many beloved songs performed by UNC vocal students. Each group was accompanied by different rhythm sections of piano, bass and drums.

The Whole Tones, dressed with red accents, opened the concert with a compilation of southern-fashioned songs. The set included a tune titled "New Orleans," the ever-enjoyable "So Happy Together" and another pair of  delightfully carefree pieces.

The violet clad Mood Swing vocal group took the stage next. With a combination of metro jazz and country-styled pieces, the eight ladies of Mood Swing reignited the crowd with their bee-bop-styled approach to "The End of a Love Affair" and the cowboy-themed "Goodbye Old Paint." This solemn wrangler tune was comprised entirely by the vocalists' musical talents with no instrumental accompaniment.

Third to the stage was Mothership Connection, sporting blue flair to the outfits, who offered a collection of renditions spawned from memorable artists and movies. The second piece played was a new arrangement of an old classic  a slow, beautiful and deep version of "If I Only had a Brain," adapted from "The Wizard of Oz."

Mothership Connection then performed a selection titled "Strollin'," which featured a piano solo.

"‘Strollin' has been a bit of a bear for us," said Dan Barton, a bass vocalist for Mothership Connection. "We hoped the crowd would reap the benefits of that."

The final two pieces of this third set were a connected pair of songs, "Something Special" and "The Speed of Love," pulled from the group Earth, Wind and Fire. The first piece started the song duo with a slower, more sensuous tone. The latter part took on a faster tempo and roused the crowd with powerful solo passages from different group members.

Northern Colorado Voices, a band comprised of the directors of the three previously performing groups and three other guest vocalists, provided a special treat for the audience to conclude the evening's concert.

"The students certainly paid tribute to the strength of their directors," said Marilyn Stetstron, a Greeley resident and fan of all things jazz.

A flurrying opening tune preceded a mellow, wavering set that finally made its crescendo into a perky and animated finale titled "The Coffee Song."

"Whenever we play it, we have a lot of fun," said Kate Skinner, director of Mood Swing."It's even more thrilling to get a crowd's reaction to it."