The bands
Porter’s jazz program runs three groups, so nobody who wants to play is turned away:
- Jazz Orchestra: the standard big-band lineup of five saxes, four trumpets, four trombones, piano, guitar, bass, drums and a vibraphone when someone can play one. 18 chairs.
- Jazz Lab Band: a second big band. Students run it under faculty supervision, and it takes everyone the first band has no chair for. Most Lab Band players move up within a year.
- Combos: three or four small groups of four to six players, formed each term and coached weekly. This is where improvising gets learned.
The repertoire runs from swing-era charts to arrangements by current students. A senior in electrical engineering arranged three charts in last spring’s book, after taking Music Theory I as an elective “to see what the chords were doing.”
Director and rehearsals
The program is directed by Grace Larsen, professor of practice in instrumental performance and music technology. She also runs the recording side, so every concert is multitracked and members get the stems.
| Group | Rehearsal | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Jazz Orchestra | Tue & Thu, 6:30–8:30 p.m. | Band Room, Applied Arts 150 |
| Jazz Lab Band | Wed, 7:00–8:30 p.m. | Band Room, Applied Arts 150 |
| Combos | One hour weekly, arranged | Applied Arts 158 (combo room) |
The evening schedule is deliberate. It keeps the Jazz Orchestra clear of afternoon labs and of the Wind Symphony, and about a third of the players are in both.
Credit
Register for MUS 1620 Jazz Orchestra (Jazz Orchestra or Lab Band) or MUS 1625 Jazz Combo, each for 0 or 1 credit and repeatable. Both count toward the music minor. Students who want to arrange or compose for the band can do it as an independent project after MUS 3500 Composition. Students who want to run sound for it should look at MUS 2500 Introduction to Music Technology and the music technology minor.
Concerts this season
| Date | Event | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| Sat, Nov 7, 7:30 p.m. | Fall Jazz Night, with the Jazz Orchestra and Jazz Lab Band | Founders Ballroom |
| Sat, Feb 27, 7:30 p.m. | Winter Jazz Night, with combos opening | Founders Ballroom |
| Fri, Apr 30, 7:30 p.m. | Spring Jazz Night and senior features | Founders Ballroom |
| Selected Fridays | Combo sets at Foundry Friday gatherings | Founders Union |
Jazz nights are set up cabaret-style at tables of eight, with a coffee and dessert bar run by a student organization. Tickets are $8 public, $5 seniors 65+ and youth, free for Porter students at the door, and tables for groups can be reserved through the box office. Doors open at 7. Back-row tables are first come, first served, and they go fast.
How to join
Placement hearings are held the first week of each term. Spring 2027 hearings are January 25–28. Prepare:
- a 12-bar blues in F or B-flat (play the melody, then a chorus of improvisation if you can; it is fine if you can’t),
- a major scale and its Mixolydian mode in two keys,
- a short sight-reading excerpt, provided on the day.
Rhythm-section players also comp a swing tune and a straight-eighth groove. Improvising is not required for a section chair, and lead trumpet has never been chosen on improvisation. The hearing places you in the Orchestra, the Lab Band or a combo. Nobody is cut. Sign-up and the other ensembles’ requirements are on ensemble auditions.
Fictional information
UW–Porter Falls is a work of parody. The Jazz Orchestra, its director, bands, rehearsal rooms and concerts are invented; there is no big band here and no jazz night to attend.