WHS hosts spring jazz concert

At the Waseca Spring Jazz Concert the evening of Friday, May 17, high school students performed to a full house at the Waseca High School performing arts center. Throughout the evening, the auditorium resounded with applause for individual solos and small group stand-ups.

Miranda Merrill, middle school band director, helped the Junior High Jazz Band start the show off with “Grabbing Some Air” and “Yonkers is Calling,” both written by Dean Sorenson; the Junior High Jazz Band also performed “Walkin’ on the Sun” by Paul Murtha.

“I like teaching and conducting jazz bands because it exposes students to a different style of playing and allows for students to create their own music,” Merrill said. “It is so powerful when students can stand up and make their voice in the music we play.”

She added that she especially loves working with students on improvisation which sparks them with the confidence to go out and perform those solos on a stage. 

“I find it so rewarding to give the students the fundamentals to work in this style of music and then see them move forward and be able to express themselves through a variety of different musical styles,” she said. 

Devon Lawrence, high school band director, is involved with four different high school jazz groups: Jazz Blue, Jazz Blue Combo, Jazz One, and Jazz One Combo. He told the audience the differences between the jazz combination groups; Jazz Blue Combo consists of individuals who have played around in combinations for a while. He said that he and the students take familiar tunes and translate them so the students can improvise with their varying instruments.

“We’ve never had two combos before, so this has been great,” Lawrence said.

During the show, he shared that Dean Sorenson is the jazz band director at Minnesota State University (MSU) and participated in the jazz festival at the high school.

“He does a great job at writing for early jazz bands but also for intermediate and advanced bands, so we try to incorporate his music whenever we can,” Lawrence said.

After the Junior High Jazz Band finished their part of the show, Devon Lawrence, the high school band director, asked the audience to applaud them one more time; the audience almost immediately burst out clapping.

Lawrence’s band, Jazz Blue, began with “Sugar” which was arranged by Mark Taylor; Amerette Nevallainen played the piano, and Lily Sanchez and Tarun Ewest led the rest of the students on their saxophones.

The second song Jazz Blue played was “Coco Loco,” another piece Sorenson wrote which featured Elliott Galle on trumpet and Megan Hudak on saxophone.

Lawrence announced that his students chose Ewest to receive the Clifford Brown award which is given annually to a student who demonstrates phenomenal musicianship and leadership. Brown, Lawrence also shared, was a cover artist who also played piano and on the trumpet.

“[Ewest] has been working with our jazz ensembles for the last several years,” Lawrence added. “This year he also decided to take up saxophone and three weeks ago, he came up to me and asked if he could play baritone. I told him, ‘Sure.’” Lawrence expressed his admiration to a student who was willing to apply and stretch himself.

Jazz Blue finished with “Green Fields,” a song Dave Eshelman composed. “Green Fields” featured Ewest on bari saxophone, Galle on trumpet, Hudak on alto saxophone, and Jacob Harguth on trombone.

Next Jazz Blue Combo took over, starting with “St. James Infirmary” by Joe Primrose, followed by “Jo Jo Calypso” by Jim Nadel. Primrose was also known as Irving Harold Mills who was a music publisher; Nadel was an alto saxophonist.

Jazz One Combo performed “Sister Sadie” by Horace Silver and “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” by Otis Redding.

Jazz One was the second to the last group to perform a variation of selections: “Strike Up the Band”, arranged by Mark Taylor; “I Remember Clifford” by Benny Golson, “Eleanor Rigby” arranged by Eric Richards, and “Morrocco” by Russa Freeman. Noah Dahle played a flugelhorn solo during “I Remember Clifford” and a trumpet solo during "Strike Up The Band." 

LaCroix performed a solo on "Strike Up The Band" with her alto saxophone while Markeson played solos with her tenor saxophone for "Morocco,” “Strike Up The Band,” and “Eleanor Rigby.”

To finish up the night, all the jazz bands combined to perform “Buckjump,” arranged by John Wasson. Later, Lawrence said he likes to choose a tune that is fun and upbeat while also providing many opportunities for solo performances. Different students stood up and showcased their skills while the audience responded with enthusiastic applause.

“It's always incredible to see the growth that happens in our students over the school year,” Lawrence said. “The fun part is they are much better sight readers, their tone is improved greatly and they just play better together as a group. It's really fun to see!”