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Jazz festival gives students freedom to put their own stamp on music
By Mark Coddington
mark.coddington@theindependent.com
At Grand Island Senior High on Monday, you could hear plenty of sounds and styles that were different from what you're used to hearing from high school bands.
New Orleans-style Dixieland. Piano, cowbells and tambourines. Muted, swooping horns. Even a little funk.
But there was one element that made the music at Monday's Jazz Band Festival truly distinct: freedom.
"Most people think that swing is jazz, and that's not all there is to it," said GISH band director Louie Eckhardt. "It's the improvisation that defines jazz."
While high school marching band is defined by its rigidity and discipline, Monday's performances were characterized by a swinging, spunky looseness -- with everything from the loose posture with instruments to informal, hands-off direction, and even a little bit of singing by band members.
For the students, that relaxed vibe made sense: Many of them were the more experienced, accomplished band members from their schools who considered jazz band a welcome break from the more formal marching and concert styles.
"You can put your own twist on the music," said Mathew Tupper, a senior saxophone player at Northwest. "It's not just what's on the page. You can give different weight to different notes, and stuff like that."
Nowhere is that freedom more evident than in the bands' improvisational solos. It can be a nerve-racking experience -- standing up to play by yourself in front of an audience, and not knowing exactly what you're about to play.
It's tough to teach, Eckhardt said. The best just understand rhythm, melody and chord structures and then go at it.
It really comes down to confidence, said Rick Matticks, assistant band director at Hastings High. One of his students, junior trumpet player Michael Hull, said that for an extrovert like him, jazz band offers a way to express himself that concert band and marching band just can't match.
"Jazz band allows you to put all your emotions and feelings into the music," Hull said. "You can tell everything about me from the way I play."
Junior Jaime DeTour, who plays the trap set for Hastings, agreed. Jazz drumming is different from rock drumming, she said -- more alive and expressive.
"The biggest thing you have to have for jazz band is passion," DeTour said. "You have to have passion for that music, otherwise it's not going to work very well."
New Orleans-style Dixieland. Piano, cowbells and tambourines. Muted, swooping horns. Even a little funk.
But there was one element that made the music at Monday's Jazz Band Festival truly distinct: freedom.
"Most people think that swing is jazz, and that's not all there is to it," said GISH band director Louie Eckhardt. "It's the improvisation that defines jazz."
While high school marching band is defined by its rigidity and discipline, Monday's performances were characterized by a swinging, spunky looseness -- with everything from the loose posture with instruments to informal, hands-off direction, and even a little bit of singing by band members.
For the students, that relaxed vibe made sense: Many of them were the more experienced, accomplished band members from their schools who considered jazz band a welcome break from the more formal marching and concert styles.
"You can put your own twist on the music," said Mathew Tupper, a senior saxophone player at Northwest. "It's not just what's on the page. You can give different weight to different notes, and stuff like that."
Nowhere is that freedom more evident than in the bands' improvisational solos. It can be a nerve-racking experience -- standing up to play by yourself in front of an audience, and not knowing exactly what you're about to play.
It's tough to teach, Eckhardt said. The best just understand rhythm, melody and chord structures and then go at it.
It really comes down to confidence, said Rick Matticks, assistant band director at Hastings High. One of his students, junior trumpet player Michael Hull, said that for an extrovert like him, jazz band offers a way to express himself that concert band and marching band just can't match.
"Jazz band allows you to put all your emotions and feelings into the music," Hull said. "You can tell everything about me from the way I play."
Junior Jaime DeTour, who plays the trap set for Hastings, agreed. Jazz drumming is different from rock drumming, she said -- more alive and expressive.
"The biggest thing you have to have for jazz band is passion," DeTour said. "You have to have passion for that music, otherwise it's not going to work very well."
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