The Oakland University Jazz Band will play at Cliff Bells in Detroit Sunday, Dec. 2 from 6 to 10 p.m. The event is free to all.

Miles Brown, assistant professor of music, said the show features all the ensembles the OU Jazz program has to offer, except for the jazz singers group. Four small jazz combos will perform,  as well as the big OU Jazz band. Clarinetist Paul Klinger will be a guest artist and will play with the traditional group. 

Michele Ramo, international guitarist, violinist, mandolinist, composer, clinician and teacher, will perform with some of the groups as well. Ramo currently teaches jazz violin, guitar and mandolin in his private studio and jazz guitar at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

“Bringing in a professional artist with the groups really gives them a different prospective,” Brown said.

Sean Dobbins, special lecturer of jazz percussion and jazz combos, coordinates the combos program. He said the performance was his idea.

“To have the jazz program perform in the jazz community is always a part of the plan,” Dobbins said. “The real life experience that the students will gain gives them a sense of accomplishment and inspires them to keep reaching for their musical goals.”

The jazz department also wants to showcase the positive contributions that OU is making to the Metro Detroit Jazz community, according to Dobbins.

“We say the same things to our students, day after day, week after week and to have them work with a guest artist they get a fresh perspective,” Brown said. “Sometimes they hear the same things that we hear, it’s coming from another mouth, and it reinforces the same educational principles that we are trying to get across in the first place.”

Brown said they have performed at Cliff Bells a few times, and the students love doing it. He said it is an opportunity for students to play music outside of the academic environment, to play in a real jazz club with a stage and get real-life experience of what it’s like to be a jazz musician.

“In my opinion and from an educational standpoint, it’s (getting experience outside of the classroom) essential to the development of being a jazz musician,” Brown said.

Playing in a club environment where there is talking, eating and the sound is not always the greatest, will help students focus and bring a lot of energy to the performance, according to Brown.

“In the music program, we have concerts on a concert stage and with this being a lot less formal, the students feel like they are having more fun.”

A variety of music will be played among the groups and the big band.

One group is considered a traditional jazz group with a New Orleans style, referred to as Dixie Land. Another group is playing music by Charlie Parker, an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Other groups are playing music by Herbie Hancock, an American keyboardist, pianist, bandleader and composer. According to Brown, the groups vary in size from four to eight students, while the OU jazz band has a 20-person ensemble.

“There will also be music played by a guy named Darcy James Argue, a Canadian jazz composer and bandleader,” Brown said. “For students or any jazz musician, you have to go through what we is called ‘paying your dues,’ meaning, ‘playing for free.’”

Brown said there are students in the OU Jazz Band that are in the combos and vice versa.

“Playing at Cliff Bells is an honor,” Mike Scussel, OU alumni said.

Scussel graduated in 2011 with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry. He said he has always been involved with music and started taking jazz combo as a community member after graduation.

“Walking into that place (Cliff Bells) you can feel its history,” Scussel said. “When you play on stage, you share a part in that history.”

Hands-on experience is considered essential for college students.

“This is a chance for them to prove themselves in a real life setting and use this experience to get their foot in the door,” Brown said.

He said the objective is making the music happen and bringing it alive for people to enjoy.

“It’s not school, it’s real life music,” Brown said.

Contact Multimedia Reporter Misha Mayhand via email at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter   @MishaMayhand