Niles West offers many musical activities and courses; from orchestra to choir, band to acapella, there are plenty of opportunities for students at West to get involved in the music world. One of the programs offered is Jazz Band.
Meeting every morning at 7:20, Jazz band works to excel their performances at different school events, concerts and festivals. Band director Justin Johnson believes that the class is not just about the performances themselves, but also about the art of genre.
“We’re trying to honor this, the only real American art form that there is,” Johnson said. “We are trying to play it and be as authentic as we can be with how we play it. The goal is to learn not just the music itself, but learn about the art, learn about the people that played it before we did.”
Johnson feels no matter the situation, the band should still be consistent. He believes the students in the band should be confident to become their own leaders.
“We’re process oriented, so the process is going to be the same regardless of who’s in the group. We’re going to try to pick music that is unique and that works well together,” Johnson said. “It gives me things that teach the history and like different styles, have high expectations and standards for how we play, try to get the students to own what we do and then not just be me leading it, because it’s always best to have your leadership come from inside of the team.”
Achieving those high expectations is a result of many ups and downs. Sometimes, those downs are what teach you the most. Junior Greer Drummond acknowledges this and knows how much their past struggles helped them be successful.
“We were in first place for a while in the Rolling Meadows Jazz Festival until the end of the day when a few bands got ahead of us,” Drummond said. “It made us grow by showing how much we wanted to win; therefore we put in more effort. A few weeks later, we won the Illinois State Jazz Festival.”
Senior Anthony Burns took the time to improve in his personal playing. He has seen it translate to his performance and confidence.
“During this year, I’ve seen a lot of personal growth in my improvisation,” Burns said. “I’ve spent a lot of time practicing my musical vocabulary and playing along with a metronome, and it has really shown in how I feel when I’m playing.”
Johnson feels jazz band is a different experience compared to regular band and that aside from working with your team, it’s also about working on getting better yourself.
“While there’s no direct competition, it’s more like you’re competing against yourself for how much better you can get over the course of the year, so it’s pretty unique,” Johnson said.
Jazz Band is not just about performing at concerts or festivals, it also includes lessons from other great musicians. Burns shared how many festivals included clinics to learn from professionals.
“My favorite jazz festival from this year was at Evanston High School,” Burns said. “We performed very well and were lucky enough to have a clinic with Dana Hall, one of my favorite drummers in the city. I also got to see a lot of my friends from neighboring high schools and I really enjoyed the masterclass with Sean Jones.”
The band has been very successful this season in all aspects and Johnson is pleased with it, however, he feels that the students don’t get the right recognition in school.
“It’s been an awesome year, we play a lot. The biggest takeaway is that I just want them to get credit for what they do. We’re very good, we’re well respected around the state and I just want them to be looked at like that in the building,” Johnson said.
