A member of Kent State Jazz Band plays the in the “A Wave of Relief” show Saturday night at Kent Stage. The show was sponsored by Kent Rotary Club and benefitted tsunami relief efforts in Southeast Asia and water resource management in Africa.

Credit: Beth Rankin

The Kent State Jazz Band finished its last song, but one of the trombone players kept playing for just a few seconds longer.

Then the performance was met with a long standing ovation from the crowd, which nearly filled the Kent Stage — all turning out to support victims of the tsunami wave.

“I hope this warmed your spirits,” Walter Watson, past Rotary Club president, told the audience. “It certainly did mine.”

Music on Main Street III, a fund-raiser to benefit tsunami victims, saw various musical performances Friday night. The event was sponsored by the Kent Rotary Club.

The musical performances included the jazz band, Choralworks and the Advanced Choral Ensemble from Kent Roosevelt High School, Watson and tenor Pat Flynn.

The Jazz Band, the event’s headliner and last on the bill, was interrupted frequently by applause from the audience after band members took turns playing solos.

“A lot of people asked for them back,” Watson said.

The 17-member band, directed by Chas Baker, played various instruments including trumpets, saxophones, drums and a piano. They were all men, with the exception of a woman on piano.

The band performed five songs, a combination of upbeat and slow melodies, including “You Are the Sunshine of My Life,” “Small Talk” and “Even the Flowers Are Weeping.”

“I thought all of the performances were really great,” said Rebecca Coolis, president of the Kent Rotary Club.

The Choralworks choir, dressed in red and white robes, was first to perform. The choir sung “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm” followed by another song.

The ACE’s, in black shiny outfits, performed two songs after the choir, leading into Walter Watson’s introduction of tenor Pat Flynn.

“Pat Flynn is a great musician who has performed at clubs and nursing homes around the area,” Watson told the audience.

Flynn, wearing a black suit and tie, started his performance by singing two Italian songs while Watson played the piano. Flynn ended his performance by singing the Italian version of “You Are My Sunshine.”

According to the event pamphlet, proceeds raised by the event will go towards long-term reconstruction efforts in southeast Asia and water resource management in Africa.

A fellow rotary club president died in Indonesia from the tsunami, Coolis said.

“What a terrible event,” Coolis said. “The long-lasting impact will be hard to deal with.”

Contact off-campus entertainment reporter Eddie Dilworth at [email protected].