Certificate Recital: Evan DeTurk, Saxophone

Gemenon | Evan DeTurk
Some of you might recognize this title as the name of my Princeton-based funk
and soul band, making this tune our de-facto theme song. The science fiction
fans among you might even realize that I stole the name from the reimagined
Battlestar Galactica TV show. This was the first of the jazz-funk songs that I
wrote for Gemenon (the band), born of a groove that was stuck in my head and
a chord progression recycled from another song that had gone unfinished.

Pegasus | Bear McCreary, arr. Evan DeTurk
I love Battlestar Galactica so much that I couldn’t stop at just being “inspired”
by it and had to include a song from the show itself. I was always captivated by
the song’s ethereal opening and impressed by how it maintained that beauty as
its intensity increased. Maintaining the song’s spirit with the recital band’s large
horn section was a great arranging challenge that I learned a lot from.

Gardens of Gold | Evan DeTurk
The inspiration for this song came from Golden Gardens Beach near my family’s
home in northwest Seattle. In composing to song, I sought to musically capture
the flow of the beach’s tides and how the beach environment changes over the
course of the day. May of my subsequent compositions have involved
representations of similar concepts of motion and time.

Don’t Say You’ll Miss Me | Evan DeTurk
Next, I bring you the one (1) swing song of this recital (for the Program in Jazz
Studies). For me, an important part of music for me has always been its ability to
communicate that which can’t be spoken, and this song is a wordless
expression of the persistent feelings of loneliness I’ve experienced during
college. As such, I had to make sure it had an appropriately angsty title.

Dream Hill | Issei Noro, arr. Evan DeTurk
This song represents everything that I love about the unique brand of city pop-
influenced jazz fusion pioneered by Noro’s band Casiopea and others in the late
1970s. I think it’s really interesting compositionally due to the number of
different sections with different grooves and chord progressions that it
manages to pull together into a single, cohesive song. This is one of those
songs that takes the performer and listener through a complete emotional
journey over the course of a few short minutes.

Standing at the Water’s Edge | Evan DeTurk
After writing so much groove-based music over the course of the past year, I
wanted to compose a song that was more introspective and atmospheric.
Inspired by the riverboat scenes in Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, I
wrote a simple chord progression, added a melody that would “float” on top,
and gradually developed that theme over the course of the song. Much like
Gardens of Gold, the song is inspired by the seemingly perpetual motion of
water, as well as feelings of entering the unknown.

Window in the Roof | Evan DeTurk and Jimmy Waltman
This song grew out of conversations that Jimmy I had on several topics, ranging
from our relationships to the the seasons and different times of day to fiction
and our bandleading experiences. The song’s surreal lyrics and flowing vocal
melody contrast with the more funk-inspired horn lines. We also paid special
attention to the song’s harmonic rhythm, writing a bridge with quickly changing
chords and specific hits to contrast with the simple groove that forms the
backbone of the song’s verse and chorus sections.

Evan DeTurk ‘23 (alto sax) is a saxophonist, composer, and arranger from
Seattle, Washington majoring in Molecular Biology and pursuing a certificate in
Jazz Studies. While still in high school, he performed around the United States
and Europe with the renowned Garfield High School Jazz Band. At Princeton,
Evan has studied under David Liebman, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Darcy James
Argue, and Miles Okazaki. He plays in multiple jazz groups as well as the
Triangle Club Pit Orchestra. He also leads the funk band Gemenon and plays
saxophone in the indie neo-soul band Hot Jupiter. His music draws from a
diverse set of genres, with his most recent work combining jazz-style horn
writing with live electronic music. After graduation, he’ll be moving to the San
Francisco Bay Area to work as a technician in the Doudna Lab at UC Berkeley.
He hopes to pursue a career in biotechnology or scientific research in addition
to music.

Jimmy Waltman ‘23 (voice) is a songwriter, composer, and vocalist from
Hopewell, New Jersey. He will graduate this spring with a degree in Music and
certificates in Jazz Performance, Jazz Studies, and African American Studies. He
has sung in various ensembles in Princeton’s jazz program. He also leads the
neo-soul band Hot Jupiter and sings in Evan DeTurk’s funk band, Gemenon. In
his songwriting, Jimmy seeks to blend his background in jazz with his passion
for lyrical storytelling and contemporary music styles. He is currently working on
The Blossom, an album of original music for his senior thesis project that will be
released by the end of the spring semester. He is also the former Music Director
of his second family, Old NasSoul, and the former Music Chair of his second
home, Terrace Club.

Gabe Chalick ‘24 (trumpet) is a junior from Naples, Florida majoring in Art
History with a minor in Jazz Performance. When he isn’t giving people the good
fortune of being able to hear his delightfully lush trumpet sound he can be
found singing Billy Joel way too loud in the shower, running around campus
blasting techno in his silly little earbuds, or reading Marx outside.

Jack Johnson ‘23 (tenor sax) is a saxophonist from Charleston, South Carolina
majoring in Operations Research and Financial Engineering with certificates in
Finance, Statistics and Machine Learning, and Jazz Studies. In high school he
led his own combo and gigged around downtown Charleston. At Princeton, he
has been a member of Small Group I for four years and has studied with
Rudresh Mahanthappa, Miles Okazaki, Ralph Bowen, and Nicole Glover. On
campus he enjoys playing tennis with the Club team, playing video games with
friends, and exploring new music. This fall, Jack will join Columbia University’s
Economics PhD program and looks forward to exploring the jazz scene in New
York City.

Isaac Yi ‘24 (tenor sax) is a saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and
arranger from Bergen County, New Jersey. He has always had a passion for the
arts and draws his musical and artistic inspirations from various interdisciplinary
sources. At Princeton, he is pursuing a concentration in Ecology and
Evolutionary Biology and a certificate in Jazz Studies. At Princeton, he is also
involved in multiple jazz, dance, cultural, and sports groups on campus and has
studied music with Rudresh Mahanthappa, Darcy James Argue, and Ralph
Bowen, as well as James Saltzman, Graeme Norris, Jeremy Manasia, and Jon
Snell at the Manhattan School of Music. When not making music, he enjoys
dancing, drawing, and spending time with loved ones.

Adithya Sriram ‘24 (baritone sax) is a saxophonist from Cary, North Carolina
majoring in Operations Research and Financial Engineering with certificates in
Finance, Statistics and Machine Learning, and Jazz Studies. In high school, he
was part of the Triangle Youth Jazz Ensemble, one of the premier high school
jazz bands in NC that has repeatedly qualified for the Essentially Ellington
festival in NYC. At Princeton, Adithya is part of Small Group I and the Creative
Large Ensemble and has studied under Rudresh Mahanthappa and Darcy
James Argue as well as Wayne Leechford and Aaron Hill in his hometown.
Apart from music, Adithya enjoys playing tennis with Club Tennis, playing
spikeball, watching television, and exploring different music.

Alex Moravcsik ‘23 (keyboard) is a senior in the Music Department pursuing a
certificate in Music Performance. While at Princeton, he has studied with Darcy
James Argue, Dave Liebman, Angelica Sanchez, Elio Villafranca-West, Miles
Okazaki, and Rudresh Mahanthappa. Moravcsik also performs with several
groups on campus, including Villanelle, Hot Jupiter, Gemenon, and singer-
songwriters Molly Trueman and Kate Short.

Reuel Williams ‘24 (keyboard) is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and
producer from Trinidad and Tobago studying Mathematics.

Rohit Oomman ‘24 (guitar) is a guitarist, composer, producer, and DJ from
Brooklyn, New York majoring in Economics.

Ewan Curtis ‘23 (bass) is a senior from Houston, Texas concentrating in
Computer Science and pursuing certificates in Urban Studies and Music
Performance in Double Bass. He began playing the bass in sixth grade and
immediately loved it. In high school, he studied with Eric Larson and he now
studies with Jack Hill. At Princeton, Ewan plays double bass in the Princeton
University Orchestra and electric bass in the Princeton University Rock
Ensemble. He thoroughly enjoys playing music with friends outside of these
ensembles as well. He has played in a number of student bands on campus,
and loves to play any piano or guitar he manages to find. Recently, he’s started
to learn to DJ, and is having a blast performing for friends. When he isn’t playing
music or doing schoolwork, Ewan can be found cycling, hiking, skiing,
snowboarding, or exploring the local public transportation system.

Alex MacArthur ‘25 (drums) is a sophomore from Newton, Massachusetts
who plans to declare a concentration in History with certificates in French
Language & Culture, European Cultural Studies, and Values & Public Life. He is
a trained jazz drummer and trumpet player, and has performed in a wide array
of events and competitions ranging from the Panama Jazz Festival to the
Mingus Competition. He is also a musical omnivore, and enjoys listening to and
studying everything from early music to dancehall. He currently plays drums for
Hot Jupiter and Gemenon, and studies under Vincent Ector. Outside of his
studies, Alex enjoys cooking, reading, (re) watching films, writing, and playing
around the bonfire with his closest friends.