A Hard Boppin’ Time

William C P Spencer

May 01, 2023

In the world of music, there are very few art forms that exemplify the full and true nature of human creative expression; and Jazz is one of those art forms. On Tuesday, April 25, 2023, in an absolute blitzkrieg of improvisation that came together into an impressive and coherent piece of music, Larry Harms, directing the Hard Bop Jazz Band, presented a generous assortment of jazz tunes and covers to a much delighted and soulful audience. The Hard Bop Jazz Band’s Playing With Fire, titled after a young composer’s musical work ‘Playing With Fire’ named Christopher Artau, was a whole lot of hard work, culminating in an impressive hour-long performance. 

“The band rehearses two days a week.” Larry Harms describes how much work goes into a performance like Playing With Fire. “We rehearse from 1:30 pm to 2:35 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays.” 

The rehearsal schedule culminates into two to three recitals by the Hard Bop Jazz Band a semester, near the end of the spring or fall semester. Witnessing the Hard Bop Jazz Bands rendition of Spain by Chic Corea, prominently featuring two Central Illinois Jazz Association scholarship recipients Gavin Lambert, playing guitar, and Morgan Tipton, playing drums, I can confidently say that the hard work pays off. A harmony of Latin rhythm and fresh improvisation, this piece brought home for me just how talented the group was, and how especially talented their guitarist Gavin Lambert is on those six strings.

“Spain we’ve probably been working on consistently for at least two months.” Tucker Lahaie, a trumpet player in the Hard Bop Jazz Band, accentuates how much time was spent preparing to blow the minds of the audience.

“As you can see with the band there’s a mixture of [different] people and age groups.” Larry Harms explains that jazz isn’t limited to those who chose a music major. “Approximately half the band is music majors.”

Even though half the Hard Bop Jazz Band are music majors, the other half are just those students(and a few who aren’t) that love and want to play jazz with like-minded people. 

When asked about his favorite tune he played Tuesday night, Tucker Lahaie wastes no time answering.

“Isn’t She Lovely Lovely,” a song by Stevie Wonder, “easily. I’ve played a different rendition of   that my junior year of high school and I still love that song so dearly.”

It is this love of the art form, demonstrated in the words of one member of the Hard Bop Jazz Band, that to me helps solidify just how much love goes into the craft. That love presented was reflected back at the end of the performance when the audience gave a standing ovation to a group of jazz musicians who had well earned such appreciation from the crowd.