Every morning at 7 a.m. one can hear the Saint Louis High School Jazz Band hard at work. St. Louis’s band director, Steve Lawhorne, puts on a zero-hour jazz band class starting at 7 a.m. every morning. The jazz band is able to perform at concerts, jazz festivals, and other jazz competitions.

When asked why he puts on morning jazz band, Lawhorne commented, “I really like that style of music, and I think it is important that students have the opportunity to play that type of music.” One thing that Lawhorne loves about jazz band is being able to start the day with music. “I believe that is the only way to start your day off right,” Lawhorne commented. 

On the other hand, one thing that he doesn’t like is sometimes they don’t have enough people to play all of the instruments needed to play a certain song. “There is nothing I would change about jazz band. The only thing I would wish for is to be able to add a second class throughout the day.” 

There is a good handful of kids that choose to do jazz band every morning. One student is Rachel Jewell. She loves to be able to play all of the fun songs that Lawhorne comes up with. When asked why she did jazz band, Jewell responded, “I think it is something that will expand my musical knowledge. I also live to be able to play music in the morning to start my day.” 

When asked what she didn’t like about jazz band, Jewell responded with, “I do not like that it is so early in the morning. My brain has not fully awakened by the time I get to jazz band.” Even after that, Jewell went on to say that there is nothing that she would change about jazz band. “I think it is perfect.” 

Even though there are no upcoming performances, the jazz band will be performing closer to the spring. So students can look forward to those performances from the Saint Louis High School Jazz Band.