Jazz Articles about The University of Northern Iowa Jazz Band One

The University of Northern Iowa Jazz Band One: Transformation

by Jack Bowers
February 4, 2004

Another impressive album (the twelfth in about as many years) by the always well-schooled University of Northern Iowa Jazz Band One, the first under new director Chris Merz who replaced long-time mentor Bob Washut last year. The disc marks that “transformation” while reassuring those who appreciate the ensemble’s work that the tradition of excellence established by Washut is destined to continue under Merz’s baton.

Like Washut, Merz has an adventurous nature, and the charts his students are called ...

The University of Northern Iowa Jazz Band One: West Coasting

by Jack Bowers
November 1, 2002

West Coasting is, happily, another top–of–the–line album by the University of Northern Iowa’s superb Jazz Band One (its eleventh in the past eleven years), but, unhappily, its last under long–time director Bob Washut who is stepping aside after twenty–two years at the helm. UNI has risen under Washut’s guidance to a position as one of the country’s most respected Jazz Studies programs. His leadership will be greatly missed (and his successor, whoever that is, may feel somewhat like the coach ...

The University of Northern Iowa Jazz Band One: Just Us

by Jack Bowers
January 1, 2000

Apparently, the word “predictable” isn’t in Bob Washut’s vocabulary, as one never knows quite what to expect from his award–winning Jazz Band One at the University of Northern Iowa. Just Us, the ensemble’s eighth recording (by our count), is wide–ranging and adventurous, to say the least, scanning the landscape from standard to avant–garde, swing to contemporary, bolero to blazer. What matters most, of course, is how well the band performs, and as always, Washut has his young scholars well–prepared and ...