Students played an assortment of jazz songs with music groups like Jazz Ensemble and Wind Ensemble, hoping to spread the love of jazz throughout the school and bring old musical pieces to life during Jazz Appreciation Day Friday, April 12.

“Jazz is all about interacting with the audience, and it’s like a community-based music genre that’s meant to enrich. It’s fun music,” said junior Clark Lakomski, a trombonist.

Songs throughout the day, which included older or energetic pieces, displayed the fun and communal style.

The Rock Workshop class performed a jazz medley in the Little Theatre during g-block. A slideshow of the Jazz Ensemble trip to New Orleans played in the background as the class performed ambient music, waiting for the audience to file in.

“It was a different experience performing for our school. We tried to make this performance a lot more modern,” said sophomore Julianna Walsh, who went to New Orleans as a part of Jazz Ensemble’s trip.

With different band members giving a fun introduction to each of the songs, the group started with the jazzy and upbeat “Watermelon Man” by Herbie Hancock, which featured a solo by sophomore Max Chalfin-Jacobs on the saxophone.

Students in Jazz Ensemble I performed during f-block, and they primarily focused on how jazz has developed over time and how older pieces of music have adapted and changed over such a long period of time. The audience reacted positively to both old and new pieces by applauding and shouting.

The band during g-block played tributes to notable artists such as Chuck Berry and Pink Floyd. The twelve-bar blues rhythm made the songs seem more like rock and roll as the band hit every note and beat with precision. “Money” by Pink Floyd featured solos by sophomore Tristan Jensen on guitar and freshman Tyler Bean with vocals.

The final sone of the block, Earth, Wind, and Fire’s funk hit ‘September,’ energized the audience who began to clap along to the beat.

Students in the Wind Ensemble I class performed modern jazz tunes for e-block in the Little Theater. The performances spanned from the big band productions of the early twentieth-century to Charles Mingus in the 1950s and John Coltrane in the 1970s.

Lakomski also added that the music styles were chosen to show the progress of how jazz has changed over time. “There’s a lot of different things going into it like funk and R&B, so we wanted to show all of that through the progression of the 1920s, 50s, 70s, and 90s.”

Students played an assortment of jazz songs with music groups like Jazz Ensemble, hoping to spread the love of jazz throughout the school and bring old musical pieces to life during Jazz Appreciation Day Friday, April 12.

“Jazz is all about interacting with the audience, and it’s like a community-based music genre that’s meant to enrich. It’s fun music,” said junior Clark Lakomski, a trombonist.

Songs throughout the day, which included older or energetic pieces, displayed the fun and communal style.

The Rock Workshop class performed a jazz medley in the Little Theatre during g-block. A slideshow of the Jazz Ensemble trip to New Orleans played in the background as the class performed ambient music, waiting for the audience to file in.

“It was a different experience performing for our school. We tried to make this performance a lot more modern,” said sophomore Julianna Walsh, who went to New Orleans as a part of the Jazz program.

With different band members giving a fun introduction to each of the songs, the group started with the jazzy and upbeat “Watermelon Man” by Herbie Hancock, which featured a solo by sophomore Max Chalfin-Jacobs on the saxophone.

Students in Jazz Ensemble II performed during f-block, and they primarily focused on how jazz has developed over time and how older pieces of music have adapted and changed over such a long period of time. The audience reacted positively to both old and new pieces by applauding and shouting.

The band during g-block played tributes to notable artists such as Chuck Berry and Pink Floyd. The twelve-bar blues rhythm made the songs seem more like rock and roll as the band hit every note and beat with precision. “Money” by Pink Floyd featured solos by sophomore Tristan Jensen on guitar and freshman Tyler Bean with vocals.

The final song of the block, Earth, Wind, and Fire’s funk hit ‘September,’ energized the audience who began to clap along to the beat.

Students in the Jazz Ensemble I class performed traditional and modern jazz tunes for e-block in the Little Theater. The performances spanned from the big band productions of the early twentieth-century to Charles Mingus in the 1950s and John Coltrane in the 1970s.

Lakomski also added that the music styles were chosen to show the progress of how jazz has changed over time. “There’s a lot of different things going into it like funk and R&B, so we wanted to show all of that through the progression of the 1920s, 50s, 70s, and 90s.”