Georgetown Celebrates End of Summer Holidays with Jazz Concert

Ahead of the start of the new academic year, Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q) staff, faculty and distinguished guests from other Education City universities came together for a celebratory lunch and jazz concert at the GU-Q campus.

The event featured a performance by William Anderson, acclaimed saxophonist and clarinetist. Anderson performs professionally with his brother Peter, and the duo have received widespread accolades for their music, including from Quincy Jones, who said the pair “made [his] soul smile”. The New York Times called them “virtuosos on clarinet and saxophone”, while the Seattle Times has said they “flood the room with joy” through their music, which includes new arrangements of jazz classics and original compositions.

Anderson performed works of American and Brazilian composers at the GU-Q event, receiving a warm response for songs made famous by Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie, among others. The concert was a musical tour through the sounds of New Orleans, Kansas City and New York, and included popular favorites such as “On the sunny side of the street”, “The Girl from Ipanema”, George Gershwin’s “Summertime”, and “The Sheikh of Araby”, a song that tipped its hat to the Middle Eastern region.

This smaller, intimate show was a different experience for Anderson, who, along with his brother, headlined at major events including Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York, Washington, D.C.’s Blues Alley, the New Orleans Jazz Fest, and Alfie in Tokyo.

“This is thrilling for me because I don’t ever think I’ve given a solo concert like this,” Anderson said to the crowd gathered for his show. “Usually when I perform it will be with a rhythm section… but this time, it’s all on me.”

The Anderson duo usually perform upbeat, insouciant swing-to-bop jazz, alternating entertaining arrangements for various combinations of clarinet, alto and tenor saxophone, which are smart and energizing.

The twins were also accompanied in the past by guitarist Alex Wintz. The trio’s album “Reed Reflections” was very well received by critics, who appreciated the elegant convergence of the Andersons’ saxophones and clarinets with Wintz’s resonating chordal propulsion.

The event comes ahead of the musicians’ tour of the USA, which will see them performing at events from New York to Seattle and San Diego in the coming months.

GU-Q occasionally hosts similar music events. Last year, the University organized a concert featuring internationally acclaimed Lebanese composer, oud master, and vocalist Marcel Khalifa and the Egyptian singer Mohamed Mohsen. Held at the GU-Q auditorium, the concert drew a full house and was very well received by members of the community.