St. Louis High School’s Jazz band performed once again at their annual Alma College Jazz Festival, Saturday, April 11.
The band has participated in this festival for around the last 10 years, with four to five schools traveling to perform at the festival. The band performed two tunes, “Fat Cat” and “Evil Ways,” right after the middle school performance at 9 a.m.
Jazz band member Skylar DuBois-Kleinhans stated, “When preparing for festivals, it’s about wearing the correct attire while also realizing that you are playing in front of an audience and judges. The hardest part is getting the part down. I’m a part of the rhythm section, so getting the part down fast enough allows the song to be perfected. I believe that the whole process is rewarding because I get the chance to showcase my skills and master them further.” DuBois-Kleinhans further shared his experiences behind the jazz band, stating, “My favorite part of jazz band is having the chance to perform the songs that the band has been practicing while also listening to feedback and compliments. I like music and have made it my whole personality, but I joined because I wanted to experience something new.”
Elizabeth Starry stated, “My favorite part of the jazz band is practicing. I originally joined in seventh grade and have continued to participate as it is something I enjoy. The process is rewarding because we get to showcase what we have all been working on. We also get critiques that help us improve for the next festival. My experience was a little different with a solo. It involved more individual practice rather than sectionals or the whole group.”
Fellow soloist Rebekah Ross similarly shared, “I think the process is definitely rewarding. Putting all the emotions into your playing and watching everyone in the room dance in their seats to the music. It’s so cool sitting in a room and playing at a jazz festival. There are all these people with different backgrounds, yet when the music is playing, we all feel it in us, and for that moment, we’re all the same. The experience was even better when I performed my solo. I’ve never been good at improving, but for the past few weeks, Mr. Lawhorne has been pushing me to do it, and would even just tell me to start playing and would jump on the drums so I would have to be louder than him while making it all up.” Ross also shared her experience behind the jazz band, stating, “My favorite part of jazz band is the music itself. Playing jazz is my absolute favorite because of the way that it makes you feel. It’s like how Sebastian described it in ‘LA LA Land’: it sounds like all the instruments going back and forth in a conversation. I joined the jazz band originally when Mr. Lawhorne asked me to play in a pep band at a basketball game since most of the trumpets were playing in the game.”
