Andy Sheng - Video and photo courtesy of Nhu Le: from YouTube
See link to watch the full concert
This past Tuesday, November 19th, the Vestavia Hills Jazz Band performed its first concert of the school year. This performance is one of many that the Jazz Band holds throughout the year—more to come during Celebrate the Seasons in a few weeks and the Band’s spring concert in the second semester! The band is directed by Mrs. Heather Palmer, and Mr. Horton sits in on the alto saxophone.
Selections from the concert:
Tiger of San Pedro by John LaBarbera
Summertime by George Gershwin
Rock with You by Rod Temperton
Perdido by Juan Tizol
Adventures by Paul Baker
This year’s Jazz Band has seen a significant uptick in members compared to past years, boasting eleven saxophones, four trombones, three trumpets, two pianists, seven percussionists, a guitarist, and a bassist. Don’t be deceived by the band’s effortless melodies: a lot of hard work has gone into preparing the concert. The Jazz Band meets once per day during the second half of 4th period, where they have less than 25 minutes to rehearse. Take it from someone who stops by often—it’s barely enough time to get through two charts, let alone rehearse one fully. Beyond that, a significant portion of the Jazz Band doubles on their instruments, which means that they are playing an instrument different from their primary one. New fingerings, tone qualities, air control—all of these things must be learned by the students themselves. Still, our band members have proven themselves time and time again. Even in the face of a relatively unknown instrument with limited rehearsal time each day, we had no problems putting on a great show.
The next time the Jazz Band will be performing is at Vestavia Hills High School’s Celebrate the Seasons show near the winter holidays. The Band will perform tunes alone as well as give a joint performance with the Vestavia Choir. Rumors say that there will be lots of Santa hats and Christmas lights, but you’ll have to stop by and find out for yourself!
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