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About Millikin University

Album Review

The Millikin University Jazz Band 1: Swingin' Night and Day

by Jack Bowers
August 1, 2001

If you’re gonna be swingin’ night and day (or either of the above), you’d better have a pretty good drummer to lead the way. Fortunately, Millikin University’s Jazz Band 1 has a trustworthy timekeeper in Greg Fundis, and its second CD in the last half–dozen years scurries smartly along behind his admirable stick and brushwork and the range–finding volleys of bassist Chad Sanders. Director Randall Reyman had the ensemble well–prepared for this recording session, and there’s only one conspicuous pothole ...

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Album Review

Millikin University Jazz Lab 1: Easy to Love

by Jack Bowers
November 1, 1998

When assessing any big band, the tried–and–true standards can serve as convenient benchmarks. There are a number of them on Easy to Love, which the Millikin University Jazz Ensemble recorded in May 1995. What they (and the lesser–known numbers) show is an eager group of young people who have mastered the Jazz fundamentals and seem reasonably self–confident when playing together but need to work harder on developing personal skills as improvisers. Director Randall Reyman has evidently worked hard to sculpt ...