All That Jazz

Engineering, physics and all that jazz

Members of Blue Theory blend jazz and labs to create the soundtrack of their college years.

When Ari Howard came to the Case School of Engineering from Jacksonville, Florida, he brought his guitar—hoping. Ryan Buechele, who had registered for a full course load in math and physics, arrived from Dayton with a trumpet.

Little did the two young men know, their choice of college placed them at the center of a music scene as eclectic and high-performing as their university. Both found outlets for their artistic ability as members of Blue Theory, a science-savvy jazz band made up of students from CWRU and the nearby Cleveland Institute of Music.

As they acclimated to freshman year, the bandmates squeezed in rehearsals between lectures and labs, performed at area music clubs and restaurants, and finished an album. Case has been a little more fascinating than they imagined.

“I really like the environment here,” said Buechele, a double major in math-physics and music. “There’s a nice music scene around campus. It’s amazing being by the orchestra.”

Both Buechele and Howard hold season passes to the Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall. But they get around. By the end of the school year, they had performed three times at Happy Dog at the Euclid Tavern, one of Cleveland’s most historic live music clubs.

The array of stages within minutes of campus both amazes and energizes the pair. Proximity to a cultural scene is, they came to realize, one of the perks of a Case education.

Blue Theory at Happy Dog at the Euclid Tavern. (From left) Ryan Jung on keyboards, Ryan Buechele on trumpet, Angelo Antinori on drums, Max Ventura (guest artist) on saxophone, Eli Weiskirch on tenor saxophone, Ben Friedland (not visible) on bass and Ari Howard on guitar.

The university shares music courses and music lessons with CIM, one of the nation’s leading conservatories. The Joint Music Program helps students like Buechele to major in math and physics in the College of Arts and Sciences while pursuing a second major in music.

Howard, an aficionado of classical guitar, had auditioned to attend CIM but found its tuition out of reach. He accepted a scholarship to study mechanical and aerospace engineering at Case, a little worried the jam sessions were over.

“Then I get here and it’s like all jazz, 24-7,” he said, smiling.

In his application packet, he sent along a video of his guitar playing. It made its way to the Department of Music, which he said helped to sweeten his scholarship. He’s minoring in music.

Both Howard and Buechele play with the Case Jazz Ensemble under the direction of Paul Ferguson, the renowned director of jazz studies at CWRU. That’s where they met Ryan Jung, a pianist and composer studying at CIM.

The school year had barely begun when Jung approached the freshmen with enticing news: “We’re starting a band,” he said.

Buechele first picked up the trumpet in the fifth grade, inspired by the sounds of bugles from a nearby Air Force base.

Howard was six, he says, when he found a guitar in the garage and soon couldn’t put it down.

Like Buechele, he played with jazz combos in high school. Here was a chance to get back into performing, at a higher level.

In addition to Jung, Blue Theory includes CWRU student Eli Weiskirch on tenor saxophone and CIM students Angelo Antinori on drums and Ben Friedland on bass. The jazz fusion band plays a variety of genres, including the blues, rock, swing and funk.

Jung said Howard brings nice technical expertise to the group, while Buechele adds jazzy spontaneity.

“He just comes up with these short motifs,” Jung said. “We all feed off of each other. I think that’s what makes good jazz—being able to compose while you’re improvising.”

It’s not high school anymore, Howard and Buechele said.

“Everyone in this is really serious about the music,” Howard said.

“There’s more integrity to the music. People take it a lot more seriously,” Buechele agreed.

Ryan Jung and Eli Weiskirch both compose, and a band that started with jazz standards now plays original compositions. Its first album, “Bad Blues,” was released online as the gigs multiplied.

The rehearsals and performances competed with class work and study, of course, and the bandmates say the skill they really polished is time management.

Many a Tuesday night, Howard said, “I’m doing my labs at midnight,” after rehearsing for both Blue Theory and the Case Jazz Ensemble.

But the band has added a dimension to college they did not expect, lessons they expect to be lasting.

“I’m happy that I can say I don’t just do engineering,” Howard said. “Engineering’s important. It’s going to be the main focus of my life. For me, the arts are another way I can express myself.”

Want to listen to the band? You’ll find tracks from “Bad Blues” on its website: junginator98.wixsite.com/bluetheory

Band members recently recorded their first album, “Bad Blues.”