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Lander University Jazz Ensemble Poised for First Show

Steven Galloway playing drums
Lander University senior Steven Galloway and the rest of Lander's Jazz Ensemble are gearing up for their first show.

Don't look for a theme in the Lander University Jazz Ensemble's Thursday, Dec. 9 show.

"My guiding principle is variety," says associate professor of music Dr. Robert Gardiner, who's beginning his ninth year as conductor.

"We all like repetition," says Gardiner, who teaches applied saxophone, jazz improvisation and music education at Lander. "But at a certain point, we need to contrast that with something."

The concert, set for 8 p.m. in Lander's Josephine B. Abney Cultural Center Auditorium, will include such diverse selections as "Human Nature," covered by Michael Jackson on "Thriller"; "Freddie Freeloader," by Miles Davis; "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered," from the Rodgers and Hart musical "Pal Joey"; and "Blues in the Closet," by Oscar Pettiford.

Gardiner's favorite is jazz great Duke Ellington's "In a Sentimental Mood," which will feature well-traveled jazz artists Dr. Mitch Butler on trombone and Reggie Sullivan on bass.

Butler leads the jazz groups Modus Bone and the Mitch Butler Trio and is the solo trombonist for the internationally known group JazzBonez. He's also a member of the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, whose "Book One" recording won a Grammy Award earlier this year.

Sullivan is likewise a distinguished musician, having appeared in several ETV broadcasts and on national television, as a band member for Wynona Judd. He's worked worldwide as a freelance bass player and is one of the most requested musicians in his hometown of Columbia, S.C.

The upcoming concert will also feature multi-instrumentalist Steven Galloway.

Galloway, a music major from Anderson who plays sax with Lander's Wind Ensemble, will be on drums.

The Lander senior doesn't know which instrument he prefers. "I love playing the sax, but I love playing drums, too," he said.

He plays both, as well as keyboards, for Hy-Deph, a local six-piece band.

He's also teaching himself the guitar.

Galloway's heroes are Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane and Thelonious Monk, but he credits Gardiner, too.

"He really has been a huge influence," he said.

Like Galloway, Gardiner also has other interests. His jazz band, the Robert Gardiner Quartet, has a weekly gig at the Speakeasy Club in Columbia. He and his band members are working on a CD of mostly original material, to be released in the spring.

His immediate objective, however, is putting on the kind of show that Upstate jazz enthusiasts will remember.

"I really do think it will be an enjoyable concert," he said.

The performance is free and open to the public.