Courtesy of Ethan Brown

City Vista’s jazz musicians night concert

On a typical Sunday evening at the City Vista Apartments, the sound of furious typing fills the halls as students rush to finish their homework last minute, but on some rare Sundays, a jazz band takes to the balconies to serenade the residents. Two weekends ago, a student jazz act made up of members Ethan Brown (trumpet), Ryan Townsend (pianist), Braeden Connolly (bassist) and Alex Rivera (drums) played songs from the rooftop of City Vista.
Ethan Brown, junior music composition major, learned piano from his grandmother starting at the age of six. Over time, he distanced himself from the piano and ventured out to try the trumpet around eighth grade. Brown experimented with music on his own and learned a lot from studying music at Trinity.
“I like all kinds of music and genres. Recently, I’ve been trying to get more into modern jazz which has been really cool and a lot of fun,” Brown said.
Brown played at an “open-mic” jazz coffee shop where he was approached by Ryan Townsend, another student musician in San Antonio, who wanted him to start playing with him and his two other friends.
Townsend sat Brown down and encouraged him to play with him and the other friends in his group. Brown was eager to join and start playing with them.
As they started playing together as a quartet, they originally got shut down after playing on Brown’s balcony in City Vista (CV) last semester. However, they have come a long way since then and were invited to play an organized event on Sunday, Feb. 25. They played for around two hours while students cheered and applauded them after each set.
“When we go up there to play, we just start having fun with it and play all sorts of jazz music,” Brown said. “It takes a while to set up, so we have to lug up the music in the CV elevator, but it’s still a lot of fun for all of us.”
Niko Dixon, junior neuroscience major, lives in CV. Dixon was excited to hear jazz echoing off the fourth floor patio on Sunday as she made some tea, and sat out on her balcony to hear them better.
“It’s nice to see people be creative and express themselves,” Dixon said. “I was really happy to see that other people were outside enjoying the music too. It was really cute. Once I realized they were playing more than a few songs, I went outside and stayed until they said goodnight. It felt like a concert but I could be in my PJs. It’s a whole vibe.”
Ryan Townsend is a sophomore at Northwest Vista College who studies jazz composition and has learned to play a number of different instruments. He plays the French horn in the South Texas Symphonic Orchestra and plays jazz piano at school and as a job. Townsend shared that his father, while a musician, never raised him to be one, but Townsend was enthralled by his father’s knowledge of music theory and his talent. Townsend ended up pursuing music, finding success in high school playing different instruments in a band and performing with many metal, indie and country artists.
“It wasn’t until college that my success in jazz and marching band became my job,” Brown said. “During the summers, I tour nationally with the Blue Devils, a marching organization. This summer, we won the world championship in Indiana. It was crazy. Music is my career, my hobby, my social life, my pastime. It’s my life.”
Townsend also shared that he has diverse experience with performances in San Antonio. Some notable spots that his friends have played at include Jazz, TX, Hotel Emma at The Pearl, Paramour Bar, Bar 301, On the Bend (Riverwalk) and private clubs in Fredericksburg, Boerne, Kerrville and Bulverde.
While the first two performances last semester were just off a whim on Brown’s balcony, they were thrilled to finally be asked to perform in a sanctioned manner at City Vista. The quartet hopes to be asked again and looks forward to their future performances and opportunities on and off campus.