Several student groups celebrated the arrival of spring with jazz music ranging from smooth and soft to loud and proud at Spring Jazz Night April 9.
North’s Jazz Workshop and Advanced Jazz Workshop classes performed in combos of a few students, which are small jazz bands. The concert also featured Tiger Bebop and the Jazz Ensemble, with all four groups directed by fine and performing arts teacher Richard Labedz.
The standout of Jazz Night, like many jazz performances, was the improvisational spin each student group applied to their performances.
“It really takes a lot to get up here and not only play and perform, but these kids are creating on the spot,” said Labedz. “You’re taking the final exam in the moment.”
One striking example came from the Advanced Jazz Workshop’s Maiden Voyage Combo’s rendition of “Fly Me to the Moon,” a classic jazz song originally written by Bart Howard and popularized by a Frank Sinatra cover. “Fly Me to the Moon” was instantly recognizable from the first notes, and improvised solos amplified the classic track into a new and unique experience.
“I knew the melody pretty well, but that gave me the chance to put my own spin on it,” said junior Clayton Song, who plays tenor saxophone in the Maiden Voyage Combo. “Interacting with the rest of the combo made it even more fun and created some interesting ideas that strayed from what I was used to with the tune.”
The communal aspect of jazz was the other highlight of Jazz Night, seen especially in large groups like Tiger Bebop and the Jazz Ensemble, whose uniqueness derives in part from their size.
Bebop’s best performance was a tune called “The Nearness of You,” a sweet and romantic song with harmonies smooth enough to cause goosebumps.
According to senior Sonny Piemonte, a tenor in Tiger Bebop, the song has been a staple of their repertoire at festivals and competitions for the past two years, and it’s not hard to see why. The heartwarming lyrics, enchanting harmonies, and vocal strength of Bebop come together in a beautiful way.
“It’s such a gorgeous and intricate piece in general, and, in my opinion, very unique compared to what we usually do in Tiger Bebop,” added Piemonte.
Finally, the Jazz Ensemble, also known as the Big Band, closed out the night with a series of strong and powerful pieces, concluding with “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy,” a tune which had been performed earlier in the night by a Jazz Workshop combo. The comparison didn’t make either performance seem weaker; however, it instead served to highlight the strengths of both smaller, more improvisational combos and larger, more elaborate bands.
The specialty of the big band, according to Labedz, is that “you get to hear a lot of students being creative and sharing,” and the final piece truly did bring out everything in everyone. It was loud and proud and boisterous, with numerous solos from several instruments and musicians. It was smooth at times and rough at times and the perfect ostentatious finale to a strong night of jazz.
