The Green River Jazz Voices

Green River’s Jazz Voices is a group of very talented and hardworking students who use their unique voices to come together and create one beautiful sound.

The choral group is an audition-only jazz choir that has 16 singers and is conducted by Kelly Eisenhour, who is well versed in the music field. She has won two Grammys and has also created albums including “Seek and Find” which became #14 on the JazzWeek national radio airplay charts in 2007. She has taught many classes and had an award winning choir called the Brigham Young University Jazz Voices. Eisenhour’s successes inspire the Green River Jazz Voices students everyday.

“Just her in herself is an inspiration,” said Megan Newman, soprano in Jazz Voices, “There are a ton of us [students] who would love to work in the music industry and to see our teacher still working in the music industry is a really inspirational thing to see.”

Many of Eisenhour’s students, whether Jazz Voices members or students of her other courses, can agree that she is very talented and is definitely a well qualified music teacher.

Jazz music is not only a very different style to conduct but also to sing. Jazz music incorporates syncopation (shifting accents to the offbeats), improvisation, and typically uses many different chord structures compared to classical choral music. In this sense, jazz is considered by many to be an extremely stylistic genre.

Newman’s favorite part about singing jazz is scatting. “It’s making your voice literally sound like an instrument,” Newman said. 

Scatting is using improvised syllables to sing a melody. Usually, scatting is used to represent the sound of an instrument like trumpets or a walking bass.

Jazz has a very unique style and sound. This can also lead to the difficulties of singing it.

Jahleel Smith, tenor in Jazz Voices, said that a difficult part of singing jazz is “how tricky it is because there’s so many kinda strange chords that you normally wouldn’t hear.” Smith believes it is difficult to get the chords locked into place when singing with the choir.

Due to its unique style, singing jazz in Jazz Voices is very beneficial. It teaches students music theory, finding rhythms, how to sightread music, vocal technique/control and to blend with other voices.

The students who make up the vocal group come from a variety of backgrounds and have different ideas of what their future holds. There are international students, students wanting to major in performing arts, and other students pursuing careers in other fields including dentistry and engineering. There are no limits as to who can be in the choir. Some students did not even have choral background until joining Jazz Voices.

The atmosphere of the choir is very positive. All of the students are very close and supportive of one another.

“It’s really supportive. We’re like a family,” Newman said.

They are very supportive of one another not only in their personal lives but also for each others’ singing capabilities.

“Being in a choir, everybody really does encourage you and they really enjoy listening to you,” Smith said, “They really help you out.”

Being a part of something allows you to make new friends and take part in a new activity that you could learn to love. Although Jazz Voices is an audition only choir, anyone can audition.

Some advice that was given by students in the vocal group was specifically on an audition song. It’s important that when you audition, you choose a jazz standard to demonstrate what your voice sounds like in this particular style.

It is also crucial to pick a song in your range. Depending on what vocal part you are auditioning for — whether it’s soprano, alto, tenor, or bass — you should choose a song that can show off that part.

Green River’s Jazz Voices is an elite choir that takes on a very different but beautiful style of music. A lot of hard work and commitment is required for this course, but many benefits are presented as a result. Kelly Eisenhour’s choir is something very special and has a lot to offer at the college.