Various music comes to life at the annual spring Jazz Band concert

A harmony of catchy tunes fills the Performing Arts Center with a mixture of upbeat rhythms. The lights on the stage flicker, illuminating Advanced and Intermediate Jazz Band as they perform their Jazz Spring Concert alongside jazz pianist Ron Kobayashi and the Suzanne Middle School Jazz Band.

Playing a total of 17 different tunes, Jazz Band performed their last concert of the year  on Thursday April 24 in the Performing Arts Center. To open the concert, Suzanne Middle School Jazz Band played songs like “Ready When You Are” by Doug Beach.

“That’s the first time we’ve hosted them for a concert and played together. I thought it was a really great experience for everybody,” band director Corey Wicks said. “It was really fun. We haven’t done that [with the Suzanne Middle School students] before [since] they don’t always do Jazz Band.”

After the middle school performance, the Intermediate Jazz Band took the stage performing “Amazing Grace” by Dave Rivello, “Stolen Moments” by Oliver Nelson and three others. After the Intermediate Jazz Band’s last song ended, the Intermediate Guitar Ensemble started to play “All Blues,” by Miles Davis. The striking chords of guitars paved the way for the Advanced Jazz Combo before moving onto the Advanced Rhythm Combo.

“It was very sentimental for me because this is my fourth year,” tenor sax player senior Lea Vinculado said. “This is my fourth concert, and the growth of my peers and myself has been a full circle moment for me. Since we got to perform with Suzanne Middle School, [and] also some of the kids in Intermediate, I music mentor, so being able to share the stage with them was very wholesome and heartwarming. Our guest artist was amazing [as well as] everyone else in Advanced Jazz.”

Nearing the end of Advanced Rhythm Combo’s performance of “Chromozone” by Mike Stern, Advanced Jazz quickly started preparing for their performance. In the last few songs before the concert ended, Advanced Jazz played “Begin the Beguine” by Cole Porter along with three other songs.

“The students did really great. It’s really difficult to come back from 10 days off of school during spring break and get ready for a concert in just over three days,” Wicks said. “We were a little rusty at the beginning of the week, but they warmed up over the last couple of days and we dusted off the cobwebs and the kids did amazing.”

During several songs, guest artist Kobayashi played alongside the Jazz Band. A renowned pianist and composer, he played in a band known as the Ron Kobayashi Trio with Baba Elefante and Steve Dixon for over 30 years.

“I really enjoyed playing with the guest artist, Mr. Kobayashi. I was really impressed by the solos and how really good he is,” drummer junior Matthew Ramirez said. “I had a really good time watching him before and playing with him, too.”

When looking for guest artists, Wicks invites artists within the jazz community that are passionate about teaching music to students.

“[Having a guest artist] is something they’ll remember forever, and for some of them something like that could be the reason why they go on and study music in college or even take it more seriously than they have before,” Wicks said. “Our students had a lot of good questions for him, even some stuff that I hadn’t thought about, so I thought that was really cool.”

A collective performance from all the students and Kobayashi marked the end of the last concert.

“I was dreading this moment because I don’t think I’ll ever perform on a stage like that ever again in college,” Vinculado said. “It’s definitely a bittersweet ending, and I’m able to share the stage with all these wonderful people who I’ve grown up with, and I’ve been able to watch them grow. the full circle moment I’ve been waiting for.”