After a year of absence as a formal group, the jazz band has their first performance at the school’s first Fine Arts Showcase on May 4.

“The format for that right now is sort of evolving, but the jazz band will be kind of a lounge band,” jazz band sponsor and Associate Director of Bands Asa Burk said. “It’s not crazy formal, but it is an opportunity for the group to show off their musical ability.”

Along with the jazz band, the event will also include theater, choir, and the art program.

“The mingling and socializing aspect will be perusing art that students have created, going to see a theater impromptu performance, and hearing the choir,” Burk said. “It’s a showcase of a little bit of everything that we do here in regards to fine arts, and it will be a great venue.”

Unlike concert or marching band, jazz often allows students the ability to improvise, or follow a structure of chord changes, allowing musicians to insert their own musical ideas on the spot.

“Jazz is the greatest genre of music to play in my opinion because you get to have so much freedom,” senior Jeff Woelfel said. “I once heard that you can’t play a wrong note because there are no rules in jazz, and if that doesn’t show total musical freedom I don’t know what would.”

With the addition of mega lunch, the group has utilized this time to practice once a week.

“Having practice during lunch is a great concept, but by the time we get our instruments out and warm up and get the music, we have little time to rehearse,” Woelfel said. “If a jazz band class was made then so much more would get done because there would be more time to rehearse and learn harder tunes.”

Senior Chantz Graff said that jazz provides a unique experience for the player.

“Jazz is like people having a conversation in a crowded restaurant,” senior Chantz Graff said. “The drum set is the noise in the background, the trumpet and saxophone are the two people having a conversation back and forth, and all the accompanists are kind of like the expressions of the people.”

While the group is now just a club jazz, Burk has aspirations of expanding the program.

“Hopefully in the future we can have a jazz band class when we have more students to choose from and the school grows a little bit,” he said. “You don’t have to have your best players in there, you just have to have people that want to be in the jazz band.”

While the Fine Arts showcase is the only performance booked, there might be more opportunities to hear the group in the future.

“Keep in mind that we are just a club jazz band, but I’m looking at some competitions that maybe aren’t as stringent as UIL and that would not stress us out,” Burk said. “If performance opportunities present themselves, we will go for it.”