Penn, Princeton bands jazz up U.

Mortal enemies on the basketball court, the football field and even in the halls of academia, Penn and Princeton haven't always shared the closest of friendships. But in a concert Sunday night before a crowd of about 80 people at the Annenberg Center's Harold Prince Theater, performers from both institutions proved that they can be brought together by a common bond: jazz. The concert, which featured the University of Pennsylvania Jazz Ensemble, the Princeton University Concert Jazz Ensemble and Princeton's Miles Davis Ensemble, marked the first occasion in years that jazz performers from the two schools have come together to display their talents. "I think it was a great evening, very successful," Princeton Jazz Director Anthony Branker said. "It's wonderful that both universities can get together and do something in the name of jazz." For over two hours, the two main groups performed a number of popular jazz charts written by such legends as Duke Ellington, Stan Kenton and Josef Zawinul. The Miles Davis Ensemble, Princeton's award-winning small ensemble, also delighted the audience with its interpretation of two pieces from Davis' repertoire. The show marked an important step in the rebirth of the jazz program at Penn, which was almost non-existent just three years ago. Currently, PennJazz consists of 19 saxophone, trombone, trumpet and rhythm players. College junior and lead alto sax player Adam Warshafsky, the president of PennJazz, said he was very encouraged by the evening. "It was an amazingly successful performance," he said. "The future for PennJazz looks like more growth -- we're getting better with every rehearsal." When the concert drew to a close, performers from Penn and Princeton alike had nothing but praise for the performances of their counterparts. "Princeton was really, really amazing," Wharton freshman and trumpet player Adriano Savelli said. "I was shaking backstage before we came on." Princeton junior Eli Asher, the featured trumpet player, was also quick to praise the performers from Penn. "It was a great time," he said. "It's great to get together like this and hear two great bands playing some terrific music." Both ensembles expressed their hopes to perform together again soon, with the desire that other Ivy League jazz bands would join them. The audience, which included a broad mix of students, family members and jazz lovers in general, was enthusiastic about the evening's performance. "I was really impressed," Wharton junior John Baker said. "Both the Penn and Princeton groups put on a great show. They played a lot of great music and I'm really glad I got to see them."