Sencalar-Glassman Quintet at Schoolcraft College
On March 20, the Wednesday Noon Jazz Concert at Schoolcraft College featured the Sencalar-Glassman Quintet. Schoolcraft emeritus professor and SEMJA Board member Barton Polot introduced the group, noting that he had looked forward to hearing them play live after seeing their video entry for the 2021 Michigan Jazz Festival. The audience at the well-attended concert in Kehrl Auditorium showed their appreciation for the unusual pairing of two trombones — Altin Sencalar (upper right, tenor trombone) and Chris Glassman (lower right, bass trombone) — and rhythm section Bijan Taghavi (piano), Noah Jackson (bass), and Luther Allison (drums).
The repertoire gave nods to American and world music. “Bolivia” by Cedar Walton (arranged by Sencalar), “Impressions” by John Coltrane (arranged by Addison Frei), and “The Maze” by Herbie Hancock (arranged by Steve Davis) all showed wonderful collaboration and solos, especially by drummer Allison. The trombone duo showed great tone and grit in both solos and duet exchanges. The leaders displayed their writing chops on “28” and “Nuevo Dia,” and ended beautifully with Hoagy Carmichael’s “Stardust,” featuring a searing bass solo by Jackson. Sencalar now resides in Bronx, New York, while Glassman is head of Jazz Studies at Interlochen, and the others reside in the Detroit area. They don’t gig together very often these days, but clearly relished this opportunity, and the audience was very responsive as it was in full swing!
photographs by Chuck Andersen