Spring jazz band concert: a show of resilience
Sofia Sodhi plays a solo on her trombone (Maitri Rane, The Puma Prensa)
By Parece Morovat, business manager
Maria Carrillo’s jazz band marked the beginning of spring with a lively bang, leaving the crowd stunned with their impressive musical technique and stage presence on the evening of March 31. The night of jazz set the tone of transitioning from the winter blues into the spring spirit of rebirth because it had several engaging songs, including vocal performances and pieces played by the underclassmen combos of the program.
Combo III began the evening with their playing of “Doxy,” by Sonny Rollins. The composition featured Jack Morelli on tenor saxophone, Kevin Paul-Merritt on alto saxophone, Max Leibinger on trumpet, Kevin Wei on piano, Zoe Leibinger on bass, and Moses Harink on drums. Although “Doxy” was originally composed as a moderately slow song, Combo III took their creative liberties by playing it at a much faster pace. This interpretation allowed the audience to take a peek into the innovative minds of the majority underclassmen combo. Morelli, Paul-Merritt, and Max Leibinger stood out at the center of the stage, interlocking the different parts coming together as one whole, complex melody.
Jazz II’s romantic set of songs, “Look of Love,” composed by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, was most memorable for it featuring the back and forth dynamic between the vocalists Felicity Hughes and Shravan Sundaram. Jazz II remained relaxed and confident as they played a bossa nova rhythm that revolved around Hughes' alto vocals that contrasted against Sundaram baritone voice. Jazz II began the song with a soft tone and progressed into an upbeat, passionate melody. The ensemble tied everything together smoothly in order to take us along this complicated journey that Bacharach and David had in mind related to finding meaning in one’s life after experiencing overwhelming feelings of admiration for another.
Later in the evening, Jazz I played Glen Miller’s classic “In the Mood”, featuring solos by Harrison Fields on tenor saxophone, Miles Johnston on alto saxophone, and Noah Vincent-Blatter on the trumpet. Vincent-Blatter, a senior, says that he enjoyed imitating Clyde Hurley’s sound on the original recording of the song while adding his own flare. Moreover, Jazz I captured the swing era of the song by displaying their musical technicality in the famous fade-away ending.
Unfortunately, the show was not all I had come to expect. Although the jazz band played at a relatively high standard, objectively speaking, when compared to other jazz concerts this year, the performances simply did not hold up to that same level. For instance, flashing back to Fall’s Jazz Night, Joey Manfredi brought me to tears as he masterfully played his interpretation of “Lament,” by JJ Johnson with intense feelings of melancholy and passion. Additionally, Andrew Neu’s “Salt City Samba” played by Jazz I earlier this year filled the auditorium with the quick and lively sound of Brazilian samba, keeping people at the edge of their seats. Moreover, the pieces performed for the Spring Jazz concert were technically impressive and well played but did not overall stack up to those done earlier this year, as they did not sound as smooth and put together as the past concerts.
The underpreparedness centered around bass player Tomas Mazieka suffering from a hand injury the morning prior to their jazz night. Vincent-Blatter stated that their “set was essentially one huge Tomas feature.” Therefore, they were forced to change their entire set the day before the concert, having Callum Robertson take over as bass player for Combo I. Additionally, with “Rosalie,” by Doug Leibinger, featuring Mazieka’s cello solo, cut from Jazz I’s setlist, they added on “Misty,” by Johnny Mathis and “In the Mood,” by Glen Miller. “Misty,” featuring a trombone solo by Sofia Sodhi, gave her only a day’s worth in getting her solo down. She shares that she had to carefully balance the little time left between being prepared enough and not overplaying to the point of tiring herself out to not be able to perform well for the concert. Ultimately, with barely any notice to run everything smoothly, jazz band wowed the audience in being able to pull through and play cohesively. Their grit and resilience in being able to overcome a big obstacle like this is most emblematic of the passion and drive that is at the core of Carrillo’s jazz band.
Although the Instrumental Music Banquet that will be held late May is technically their last performance, the spring concert remains as one of the last school concerts of the year. Senior Sodhi said she is “still in denial about it all ending.” She adds how she has “worked so hard and… [has] given so much to the program” driven by her appreciation of being a part of such a strong group of hardworking individuals. Freshman Paul-Merritt touched on how a few of the senior boys have been like older brothers he never had. He highlighted how “being around other better and older players constantly pushing [him] to get better” contributed to his musical skill skyrocketing over the past several months. They were the ones that inspired him to start a freshmen combo after their massive success in the fall concert and to continue with music throughout his high school education. And it makes him sad knowing that “their time here is almost up,” but he wishes them the best in their lives moving forward from high school.
While not as emotionally moving compared to past jazz performances of the year, in this production, Carillo’s jazz band demonstrated their willingness to pull it all together despite their underpreparedness and truly shine. The future of Carrillo's jazz band looks bright with many groups of adventurous, young students who have taken on bigger and bigger roles in the program and cementing the core values of drive and resilience that will ultimately contribute to jazz band’s longevity and legacy.