For students in the All-Region Jazz band, the region jazz clinic is the first and only opportunity to rehearse together as an ensemble before their concert the very next day at Lebanon Trail High School Thursday from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
“The clinic/concert is basically where all the kids who qualified for All-Region Jazz…form together into two jazz ensembles: jazz ensemble one and jazz ensemble two,” senior Noel Benny said. “And we perform different works from all different types of genres in jazz like the cha-cha, classical jazz, swing, bee-bop, etc.”
The jazz bands, each containing about 18 people, will play songs like “Vineyard Blues”, “The Big Dipper”, “Hubcap”, and arrangements of “Paranoid Android” and “Blackbird”.
“I’m really excited about this set list,” senior Madeline Sanders said. “I think it has really cool and fun choices. Last year, the tunes were all kind of the same. They were a little bit too stylistically similar. This year, I feel like we have a lot more differences between our tunes and I think it’s gonna be a really fun set list. Also, I get to play both of my basses. I get to play electric and upright because the styles call for it. Last year, I only played my upright because [we had] a bit more classic tunes.”
Before becoming a part of the selective jazz band, students had to undergo an audition process that included three months of practice time to learn various jazz etudes.
“Three people got in, from our school,” Sanders said. “Competitiveness varies by instrument. For me, it wasn’t that competitive, there’s like six other basses auditioning. For other instruments, it gets really competitive. Like there are 30 trumpets auditioning and we take like five. Basses also only take one. So yeah, it’s not a big group which is why it gets competitive. It’s also why All-State is so competitive—like for basses, it’s top two in the state.”
For Benny, who is the only Redhawk to have made it to All-State and was among the few selected as one of the top jazz players in the state, the audition process for All-Region was more competitive as well.
“With my instrument specifically, which is the baritone saxophone, they take only the top two in the region, which includes Frisco, McKinney, Prosper, and Little Elm,” Benny said. I was lucky enough to make first chair.”
Playing in the All-Region jazz band may present students with challenges, but they can be turned into learning opportunities in Benny’s eyes.
“The biggest challenge has probably been time management,” Benny said. “I put in a lot of time with the etudes that I could have put into other things. So I had to learn to manage my time. I’m most excited to see my friends from other schools. A lot of them I can relate to because we’re all good jazz musicians, so it’s fun socializing.”
For Sanders as well, the benefits outweigh the challenges as the All-Region jazz ensembles allow students to pursue their passion for jazz.
“[I auditioned] because I like playing jazz and Liberty doesn’t really have a jazz ensemble,” Sanders said. “In my last high school and also my middle school, there was a separate class that was jazz band, so without that, I feel kind of empty and like I need something to play. And also, it’s fun. It’s a bit more higher level music, because it’s supposed to be for the best in the region. It’s rewarding.”
