The Cornell jazz ensemble is a group of 21 student musicians who practice and perform alongside Prof. Paul Merrill, music. Each semester, the largest ensemble in the Ivy League puts together shows for Cornell students to attend for free.
On April 19, the Cornell Jazz ensemble put on a spring performance as they played 11 songs with alto and soprano saxophonist, Vincent Herring.
The Sun spoke to Herring, Merrill and other members of the band in order to gain insight on this successful group as well as their experiences performing alongside a jazz legend.
Experience at Ensemble
Many members of the band stated that they have seen the difference between the collegiate and high school level of play during their time at Cornell.
“Coming to [Cornell] university and a band like this where everyone is so invested into creating such a good product at the end and creating incredible art at the end — it’s an unreal experience,” said Ezra Seckin ’28.
Freshman saxophonist Ezra Seckin had the chance of a lifetime - he played alongside jazz legend and saxophonist Vincent Herring at Bailey Hall (Zeinab Faraj / Sun Assistant Sports Editor).
To join the band, there is an audition process that all interested students must complete in August. If prospects are able to impress with their auditions, they can join the band and also gain access to individualized lessons with instructors and professors.
The students were required to study the song “Bouncing with Bud” for their auditions, along with other special instructions about improvisations, sight-readings, rhythmic accuracy, intonation and style. No one student auditions alone, nor do all the same instruments audition at the same time. Instead, Merrill has auditionees from different sections audition together to see how they sound together. For example, an auditionee from guitar, piano, drums and bass were placed together according to Nathan Choi ’28.
This year, after auditions, the band is made up of five saxophonists, five trumpet players, five trombone players, a guitarist, a pianist, two bass players, a drummer and a vocalist.
According to their website, Cornell University Jazz is made up of four parts that students take part in — a classroom-style practice, improvisation and history components, student clubs for specific interest, and individualized practices and different scale performances in front of large audiences.
Students in the ensemble are enrolled in MUSIC 4615: Jazz Ensemble, where they rehearse twice a week and have two to four different performances in a semester. They are able to gain academic credit for their practices and participation in the band. On top of these mandated four hours, the band sometimes meets for extra practices to fine-tune their pieces.
This combination of courses, practices and performances is what makes the band “able to click and have chemistry together,” said Turner Aldrich ’26.
“During my solo performance, the band was able to match my vibe and I think we have so much chemistry together,” Aldrich said. “Improvisation is just a different way for me to communicate with my bandmates.”
Performing with Vincent Herring
The ensemble, headed by Merrill, puts on concerts throughout the semester. This specific concert opened with the jazz ensemble playing five songs together. Then, after a short intermission, Herring took the stage and performed six songs alongside the student musicians, including two he wrote.
During the first song of the second set, “Del Sasser,” Merrill jumped in from conducting to perform a solo on the trumpet alongside Herring and his students.
“The reason why I played is because Vincent said, ‘Paul why don’t you play too,’ and I can’t say no to him,” Merrill said. “Anytime I get to stand alongside my students and make music, it's always special.”
Herring is a renowned jazz saxophonist and music instructor. He has been playing the saxophone since he was 11 and started studying music at 16 years old at California State University, Chico. He currently teaches at William Paterson University and the Manhattan School of Music, and he is featured in over 20 albums and 250 songs. This past spring, Herring practiced with the student musicians and offered a master class to assist with specific questions the students had.
“It is pleasurable for me to play alongside this ensemble,” Herring said. “Coming to Cornell is always enjoyable because the quality of the students and the musicians [is] good, and Paul [Merrill] always does a great job picking the music. So as long as I am welcome, I will always come back.”
During the concert, Merrill recognized nine senior student musicians, awarding them blue and black cords to wear at graduation — the blue symbolizing the blues music genre, and the black honoring the African American artists who were instrumental in the development and popularization of jazz and blues music.
Along with lessons on jazz, Choi ’28 stated that Herring’s storytelling ability was an aspect of the lessons he “deeply appreciated” since these “traditions” are important to persevere. On Saturday, Choi performed six solos on piano.
“It is definitely what I love the most about jazz, the rich tradition and stories you would never be able to find online,” Choi said. “The tradition and spirit of jazz can only really be passed down by word of mouth.”
That same spirit resonated with Seckin, who reflected on the rare opportunity to learn from and perform with Herring. As a fellow saxophonist, Seckin felt a deep connection and admiration for Herring.
“Being able to share the stage with him and share conversations with him has been an unreal experience for me, and I am forever grateful,” Seckin said.
Seckin noted that this was just his second performance with the ensemble. During the first set, he performed an improvised solo on the saxophone.
On the other hand, Aldrich has more experience with the ensemble — he has been a member for three years and on Saturday performed three different solos on guitar. Notably, he soloed on Herring’s “Don’t Let It Go” in the second half of the concert.
“[Improvising] is creativity, making something new on the spot to express yourself,” Aldrich said.
The Department of Music at Cornell will continue to host more concerts this spring — next up, at 7:30 p.m. on April 29, an organ recital will be held at Sage Chapel. The next jazz-related event will be the Jazz Social at Regent Lounge, slated to start at 5 p.m. at May 4 Statler Hall.
Of course, the jazz ensemble looks forward to the next time they will work with Herring again.
“When we knew [Herring] was coming, we were all incredibly excited,” Choi said. “To share this stage with my incredibly talented fellow musicians and a living legend means so much to me.”
Zeinab Faraj is the assistant sports editor on the 143rd editorial board and a member of the class of 2028 in the College of Arts and Sciences. You can reach her at zfaraj@cornellsun.com.
