You missed out on something truly extraordinary if you weren’t at Mabry Concert Hall on Oct. 7. The APSU Jazz Combo delivered a captivating performance, receiving a rousing standing ovation. It wasn’t merely a concert but an experience, taking everyone in the room on a journey through swing, funk, Latin and jazz.

“We knew we needed to represent a number of styles,” said trumpeter Jed Edmondson, exuding confidence after his well-received performance.

Edmondson is a member of the APSU Jazz Combo, which is actually a class that students can sign up for every semester. With guidance from instructor Gary Beau Clayton, the group is entirely student-led.

“That is a blessing to have put on you—that someone isn’t always giving you the answers. You know? Sometimes, you have to come up with the ideas yourself,” he said.

Currently, the combo consists of seven gifted musicians: trumpeter Jed Edmondson, saxophonists Peri Espinoza, Oakley Hinds and David Lee, electric guitarist Benjamin Truex, bassist Zackery Marhover and Luke Anderson on drums.

From the moment this group took the stage, an aura enveloped the room. Opening with a captivating rendition of “So What” by the legendary Miles Davis, each instrumentalist gave an on-the-spot solo, demonstrating their music theory and improvisation proficiency to create a sound that was both timeless and refreshingly new.

The talented Oakley Hinds wowed the audience by playing three types of saxophones throughout the one-hour performance. Beginning the night using an alto sax, then switching to a baritone sax during a cover of Horace Silver’s “Sister Sadie.” After this song, Hinds changed to a tenor sax for “Tenor Madness” by Sonny Rollins. This piece shined a spotlight on the saxophone section and is unique as its wind section consists of exclusively, you guessed it, tenor saxes.

Hinds wasn’t the only performer pulling out different versions of instruments; Zachary Marhover also joined in on the fun. Starting classical, Marhover anchored the tunes with a smooth double bass and then swapped to an electric bass guitar for “Sister Sadie.” Decked in a vibrant red blazer, he and drummer Luke Anderson rebounded off each other brilliantly. With Benjamin Truex on electric guitar hitting riffs and licks alongside them, the three of them improvised grooves that had viewers dancing in their seats.

Peri Espinoza, also a member of the combo last semester, showed off his expertise with rich, expressive solos, and David Lee, one of the newest members of the combo, established himself as someone to keep an eye on, wooing the crowd with his buttery saxophone performance.

The Mabry Concert Hall features a layout whereby the performers and audience are on the same level; the band used this design to their advantage.

“If you’ve ever been to a concert not in the Mabry Hall, you’ll know that sitting on stage is not normal. The audience never gets to experience what being on stage is like other than with our concert,” said Edmondson.

“At this concert, we changed the ambiance of the stage. Before, we did this purple light wash that looks good over everything. But for this concert, we thought we should try and do actual light—change the lights for every song to where it reflects the music. So that’s what we did. At the beginning of the concert, before we all came out, we had the lights set to that purple wash. It was our way of paying homage to our roots,” he said.

And their ideas worked. With flashing lights and an exhilarated crowd, the seven young men looked like superstars. Closing the show off with Blue Mitchell’s version of Charlie Parker’s “Scrapple from the Apple,” the group hid a transition into a secret final song, “The Theme,” by Art Blakey. This song was one that Blakey himself would use to close out his sets. A roar of applause from the audience followed as the combo played their final notes.

During our talk after the concert, Edmondson recalled his first year at Austin Peay State University, when he was inspired to join the jazz combo, “I remember my first fall semester as a freshman here, the environment of sitting on stage and watching my friend, who was a trumpet player at the time, go up there and play, and I’m just like ‘I love the setting. I have to do this.’ That’s what we try to capture. We want the audience to have a more personal experience where they’re also part of the show.”

For those who missed out, mark your calendars now because the APSU Jazz Combo will return to the stage. Monday night’s performance proved that these musicians are something special. Their next performance will surely be just as memorable, if not more so. So, don’t make the same mistake twice—experience it yourself. Sit with the APSU Jazz Combo at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 13 at the Mabry Concert Hall.