It’s the first time in 14 years since AHS has had a jazz band. Since winter break, AHS musicians have recently been working on a student-led jazz band. They’re creating it completely from scratch and it has been highly anticipated. Having a jazz band here is exciting because it allows the students to express themselves in a way outside of the music class curriculum.
“I started it for a couple of reasons. Number one, throughout all my years in high school, everybody has been saying like, ‘Oh, we’re going to start a jazz band. It’s gonna be so cool,’ but nothing ever happened,” said senior Anthony Rodriguez, the founder of the band.
“So I decided to take initiative. The second reason is because as of right now, the school didn’t have any sort of activity where all of the artists could just join and do one kind of thing.”
While walking around school in December, you may have seen posters about a jazz band interest meeting. Although the band was formed quite fast, it had a great turnout. There are around 20 members who play various instruments ranging from piano to bass to drums.
“I think it definitely benefits not only the musical diversity of each student, but it strengthens what kind of music we all can collaborate with,” said senior Tyler Perez.
Jazz emerged from African-American communities in New Orleans, Louisiana, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Although it was very popular during that time frame, it started to lose popularity as newer genres, like rock n’ roll and hip-hop, gained traction. It is characterized by complex harmony, syncopated rhythms, and improvisational elements. Jazz is enjoyed by many people due to its catchy melodies and groovy melodies.
Over winter break, Rodriguez arranged the music that the band will use for their performances. Some of the musicians that he used when arranging it were Duke Ellington, Chet Baker, as well as other jazz standards. The music Rodriguez enjoys listening to are older jazz musicians like Frank Sinatra and The Martins, he plans on incorporating their music the ones the jazz band will play in the future. When forming the band, Rodriguez found inspiration from other jazz band leaders from the past.
“One of the people I look up to is Stan Kenton, he was their [The Kenton Orchestra] leader. He had a really great style and I really loved it. Unfortunately, I cannot find any of his pieces to be arranged,” said Rodriguez.
From this experience, Rodriguez gets to learn about teaching and leading a band, which is fitting because he plans on being a music educator in the future.
“It’s a firsthand experience for me and I feel like it kind of gives me a sneak peek into how I will actually be and working with people in the future which I think it’s amazing,” said Rodriguez.
This isn’t the first time a jazz band has come to Annandale, there was another one that was active around the 2010’s but they stopped for an unknown reason.
“I’m not sure if any fcps schools have a jazz band but I do know that schools outside of the county do. In our school we actually used to have one [a jazz band] a long time ago, but for whatever reason they stopped doing it. So this is kind of like the rebirth of it,” said Rodriguez.
Although this experience is new to Rodriguez, he’s been learning a lot from it. He details the research he put into learning about how to be a conductor. It’s clear that his efforts have been fruitful from the progress the band has made. Many members of the band are grateful for his work and are excited to see how the band will progress.
¨Anthony has recruited all the members. He’s organized all the rehearsals. He’s chosen all the music, he wrote custom warm ups for them, and he always puts a lesson plan on the board and he runs a really efficient rehearsal. So he’s doing a great job and we’re really proud of him and look forward to the concert,” said Dr. Chad Steffey, the band director.
Many students outside of the jazz band are also excited for their performances.
“I think it would be cool to have more musical diversity in the department. I enjoy listening to jazz and I think that it would be fun to watch their concerts,” said freshman Kiras Wellington
Through their work, you can see the serious dedication and hard work that has gone into this club. This is a wonderful addition to the musical program, and I hope its efforts are worthwhile.
You can see the jazz band’s work on May 14th at the spring concert!