EDMOND—Herbert W. Armstrong College assistant music director Mark Jenkins performed My Favorite Jazz on November 5 for 386 concertgoers at Armstrong Auditorium. Music director Ryan Malone, voice instructor Paula Malone, the Armstrong Youth Chorus, the Imperial Choraliers and eight local jazz professionals joined him onstage to perform 21 numbers in just over two hours.

Jenkins started with “Take the A Train,” the signature tune of the Duke Ellington orchestra. “Everybody recognizes it,” Jenkins said after the show. “It makes people comfortable.” While he played the piano, tenor saxophonist Brian Gorrell, trombonist Zac Lee, trumpeter Kirk Palmer and drummer Jemar Poteat introduced themselves to the audience via improvised solos.

“This tune is called ‘Too Early.’ It always surprises me,” Jenkins told the audience a few numbers later, joking about the song’s title. The song included a bowed bass solo, played by its composer, Michael Geib. Gorrell’s 18-year-old son Logan, who played baritone and alto saxophone throughout the evening, also played an alto solo during the piece.

Minutes later, baritone Ryan Malone sang “Stardust” as Palmer provided backup on the trumpet. “On the Street Where You Live,” a romantic, gallant song from the 1956 Broadway musical My Fair Lady, came next—this time presented at an upbeat tempo with just Jenkins’s vocals and Aaron Tomasko’s bass accompaniment. Other tunes from the first half included “Summertime,” a soulful song from George Gershwin’s 1934 opera Porgy and Bess; “A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square,” a British song that Jenkins played as a piano instrumental; “Blackbird,” sung by soprano Paula Malone; “Autumn Leaves,” made famous by the legendary Nat King Cole and sung with a Latin flair by Jenkins; “Sweet Marie,” which Jenkins called “probably the most modern jazz in the concert,” by local composer Zac Lee; and “I Get a Kick Out of You,” featuring a trumpet solo by Jay Wilkinson.

Jenkins opened the second half with a brief piano solo by famous bop pianist Bud Powell. The Armstrong Youth Chorus then sang Jenkins’s unaccompanied version of “American Anthem,” featuring vocal solos from Armstrong freshman Jessica Brandon and Imperial Academy students Zechariah Henderson and Ellie Hilliker.

The Imperial Choraliers, Mrs. Malone and Jenkins then collaborated with the Armstrong Youth Chorus to perform “Shenandoah.” “Most people wouldn’t think of Shenandoah as a jazz tune, but there is a lovely recording of it by Keith Jarrett,” Jenkins said in his pre-concert talk on Music for Life (available on kpcg.fm). “He does something interesting structurally with a repetition of the last couple of lines, and I took a little bit of inspiration from it.”

Several numbers later, Jenkins sang “Don’t Take Your Love From Me” while Mr. Malone and his 15-year-old son, Seth, accompanied on the piano and the cello, respectively. “Mr. Wilbur Malone used to sing this when we were kids,” Jenkins said, referring to the late Philadelphia Church of God minister and father of Mr. Ryan Malone.

Jenkins and company also performed “No More Blues,” “Joy Spring,” “She Walks in Beauty,” “The Next Day” and “Daahoud” before concluding the planned portion of the program with “I Remember Clifford,” written by Benny Golson in memory of the great trumpeter Clifford Brown, who tragically died in a car wreck at age 25. Jenkins later said Brown is his favorite jazz musician. “Joy Spring” and “Daahoud” are original classic arrangements that Brown played with drummer Max Roach.

After a lengthy standing ovation, Jenkins and trumpeter Kirk Palmer performed one last song: “What a Wonderful World,” by Louis Armstrong. “The goal was for them to leave saying, ‘What a wonderful encore,’” Jenkins joked.

Mark Jenkins is a pianist, singer, composer and arranger. He is the assistant music director at Herbert W. Armstrong College and has played a leading role in three musical productions at Armstrong Auditorium. His work has appeared on nine Philadelphia Church of God albums. He won the Music Teachers National Association collegiate state piano competition in 1999 and the University of Oklahoma concerto competition in 1998. He has also performed with Branford Marsalis and Brian Stokes Mitchell.

Tenor saxophonist Brian Gorrell, trombonist Zac Lee and upright bassist Michael Geib are music faculty at the University of Central Oklahoma. Gorrell is the director of jazz studies there. His son and fellow saxophonist Logan is currently a student at the university. Upright bassist Aaron Tomasko is the assistant manager of the uco Jazz Lab. Drummer Jemar Poteat is the music director of the People’s Church. Jay Wilkinson is the coordinator of jazz studies at the University of Oklahoma. Trumpeter Kirk Palmer is part of the 17-member Oklahoma City Jazz Orchestra, as are Brian Gorrell, Wilkinson and Lee. Palmer recorded several songs for the Philadelphia Singers albums, including “Animal Time” and “I Am a Promise.” All eight of the local jazz professionals play gigs several times a week.

The Armstrong International Cultural Foundation concert series continued on November 26 with conductor Gerard Schwarz and the Mozart Orchestra of New York. The series will resume on January 14, when cellist Sara Sant’Ambrogio performs a variety of Chopin repertoire.