The 16 members of the Music Collective entered the stage wearing black pants and shirts, the dark-colored pattern broken only by the colorful scarves each member wore around their neck. Each musician then donned a pair of dark sunglasses before launching into their performance.

The Music Collective performed in their first of two spring concerts at Roberts/Dubbs Auditorium on Thursday, March 31st, playing 14 songs varying widely in tempo, volume, and instrumentation. The Music Collective specializes in jazz music, but performs other genres as well. Instead of sitting in the auditorium seats, the audience sat in folding chairs on the stage itself, providing a much more intimate setting for the concert.

The group opened the performance with Cannonball Adderley’s “Jeanine,” arranged by sophomore Jason Altshuler. Altshuler and his brother, senior Zach Altshuler, each performed a solo during this tune, on trumpet and saxophone respectively.  Sophomore Ian Mitchell finished the piece with a vibraslap, and then provided accidental comic relief by breaking the instrument.

Next, the Collective performed “Spanish Joint,” a tune written by D’Angelo and arranged for the concert by senior Hal Triedman. They then transitioned to Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good,” arranged by sophomore Evan Jacobson. This was a much slower tune than the previous two, and heavily featured Mitchell on the accordion. Senior Tristan Geary then led the group in performing his untitled piece in which he played piano. Geary said that it was his first performance on the piano in many years, drawing lots of supportive applause from the audience.

The group then performed Charles Mingus’ “Ecclusiastics,” a powerful piece dubbed “a banger” by sophomore Sammy Davies.  This was followed up by “Soul Vaccination” by Tower of Power, and then Brian Wilson’s “God Only Knows,” arranged by Zach Altshuler. The latter was a much less intense tune that incorporated more of the softer instruments such as the piano and flute.

About halfway through the concert, the small ensemble, a six-person subset of the Collective, performed the same trio of songs that they played at Berklee College of Music’s High School Jazz Festival in February: “The Blessing” by Ornette Coleman, “Sing a Song of Song” by Kenny Garrett and “Frez” by David Binney.

A tune arranged by senior James Monaco, “Miracle of the Fishes” by Wayne Shorter, was next on the list, followed by senior Neda Morakabati’s “Paraai,” which she described as a Persian piece. These were followed by Leonard Bernstein’s “Somewhere” from the musical “West Side Story,” arranged by senior Eddie Cipullo. The group finished with a strong performance of “Monkey Business” by Petros Klampanis, and received an enthusiastic ovation by the audience.

The Collective will perform the same list of songs on Friday, April 1 at 7:30 p.m. in the Roberts/Dubbs Auditorium. Admission is $5.