As his solo concluded and the rest of the musicians joined back in, the audience erupted in applause for junior trombonist Kazeem Dairo, a member of the USC Thornton Honors Combo.
Jazz Nights at Carson, a weekly performance showcasing various Thornton jazz ensembles, returned for the fall 2025 semester on Monday with two jazz combo performances.
“I want the audience to feel the joy that we get to feel from playing with each other,” Dairo said.
The performance series is set to run almost every Monday evening of the fall semester at Thornton’s Carson Soundstage, featuring the music of various Thornton jazz ensembles, ranging from small combos to big bands. All of these events are free and open to the public.
Christopher Renfrow, a junior studying vocal arts who attended Monday’s performance, said the event series allows Thornton students to share “cross-genre support” for other musicians.
“It’s awesome to see what the fellow musicians at Thornton are doing because you don’t really get the chance to be exposed to it with your own department,” Renfrow said.
The performance kicked off at Carson Soundstage at 7:30 p.m. with the Penn Combo under the direction of Clarence Penn, assistant professor of practice of the jazz studies percussion program at Thornton.
The repertoire included performers’ original compositions and arrangements, and featured jazz musicians ranging from undergraduates to doctoral students. Though they are at different stages of their degrees, the musicians are able to come together under shared ensembles, Childress said.
“What’s cool about this group, particularly, is that you can see the mixture of backgrounds,” Joshua Childress, a jazz studies major pursuing a doctorate of musical arts and the tenor saxophonist in the Penn Combo, said. “Even though we’re at different stages of life, we’re still able to come together and make beautiful music. I don’t feel any hindrance anywhere, and I think it honestly speaks to the culture of the school and the excellence that is out here.”
After a brief intermission, the Honors Combo began its set under the direction of Jon Hatamiya, professor of the jazz studies trombone program.
The Honors Combo is generally considered the premiere small ensemble at Thornton. When asked what advice he would give to these student performers, Hatamiya highlighted their skills and shared encouragement.
“Have fun on the show. All the work that we put into rehearsal is just so the gig can be fun,” Hatamiya said. “The band is always really good; everyone’s already playing at a really high level.”
The Penn Combo featured six musicians on alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, drumset, piano, guitar and upright bass. After a six-song set, the Honors Combo performed with five musicians on tenor sax, drumset, piano, trombone and upright bass.
Audience member Elijah Rock, a junior majoring in pharmacology and drug development, makes it a tradition to attend these Jazz Nights at Carson with his friends.
“One thing I love about jazz is how it has so many faces,” Rock said. “There’s no sound that is ‘jazz,’ but one thing that is always the same every time I come here is the experience, the way I feel. It’s like taking my soul, making me feel whole, and transporting me to a new place.”
The next Jazz Night at Carson is scheduled to take place on Oct. 6 at 7:30 p.m. and is set to feature the Afro-Latin American Jazz Ensemble under the direction of Thornton faculty member Aarón Serfaty.