Slosberg Recital Hall was alive and well Saturday night during the Jazz Ensemble's concert, which featured works by Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk and others. The 16-piece ensemble, under the direction of Bob Nieske, performed in both small groups and full ensemble form. Each small group performed two songs before a brief intermission that was followed by a handful of songs performed by the complete ensemble. The night began with an arrangement of Thelonious Monk's "Rhythm-a-ning" performed by the first of the three small groups, which featured improvised solos by David Guerette '08 (tenor saxophone) and Lauren Katz '08 (trombone), among others.The concert continued after a brief change of cast when the second small group took to the stage to perform "Home," a strutting tune befitting the Pink Panther and composed by Nieske. The group also performed Charles Mingus' "Better Get Hit in your Soul," which-with its strong melodies, blues-driven rhythms and audience participatory clapping part -finally got the one-third-filled auditorium moving (at least a little bit) in their seats.

While drummer Ethan Pransky '07 supplied a tight and impressive rhythmic backbone for the first two groups, he was not on stage for the third act. Instead, it was Roth Michaels '07 who acted as the lone percussive source on vibraphone. For two songs, Michaels dazzled the audience with his keen sense of rhythm and melody, all the while managing to stay mostly out of the spotlight.

The final small group performance featured ensemble director Bob Nieske on upright bass. Nieske supplied a walking bass line on Gil Evans' "High as a Mountain," a tune which also featured Katya Dreyer-Oren '09, whose smooth, refined vocals evoked the spirits of Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday. The group continued with "Frog Legs," an avant-garde piece composed by jazz great and former Nieske collaborator Jimmy Giuffre. The performers were met with smiles and laughter from the audience after the ensemble left the stage one by one in what seemed like the middle of the song.

The entire ensemble returned to the stage after a short intermission and immediately jumped into the first of five "big band"-styled tunes, most of which showcased the jazz traditions of the 1940s. The band began with another Ellington piece entitled "Ko-Ko." The group continued with "Harlem Airshaft," "Jack the Bear," and the sweet-sounding "Isfahan," before closing out the evening with another Ellington classic, "Cottontail." This dynamic, swinging rendition of Ellington's big band anthem ended the night with a bang.