On the last B day of the week, smooth sounds can be heard from the band room during lunch. This vibrant music is the result of a combined effort of those who have joined the newest music group, the jazz club.
Created by James Lee, the jazz club aims to bring an improvisational element to WHS jazz-related programs, which, prior to Lee’s club, consisted of a short list of the zero-period jazz band class.
While having similar names, jazz band and jazz club focus on different styles of jazz.
Jazz band focuses on practicing music and rehearsing songs multiple times before achieving a final product. On the other hand, Jazz club attendants look over a music sheet for a few minutes, warm up, and then come together to “Jam Out.”
Lee describes that in a “big band you’re focused on reading the notes in the music, but in a combo setting, small ensemble kind of stuff, your music is a guide and you improvise along with that.”
Each meeting, Lee covers a new “lick,” known as a riff in jazz terms. He’ll cover different scales, chords, and principles of music theory, each of which contributes to a main topic. His goal is to “expand everyone’s repertoire and expand everyone’s ear to listen to different styles because listening is the learning that you’ll need.”
Sophia Culp has become Lee’s right-hand woman in starting the club. This past summer, the two of them attended the University of Oregon Jazz Improvisation Camp, an experience that cemented their desire to share their knowledge with others.
Culp states how the club hopes to educate attendees on how to “speak jazz.” She explains a metaphor Chad Davies, band director, uses, “if you’re learning to speak a language, like if you’re learning to speak Chinese, you can’t just read it off of a page. You need to hear it to know how to speak that language.”
Lee hopes the club can broaden its scope to include improv performances for the public eye, “not all of them will be very formal, like, they’re more low-key.” Things like playing at WHS’s Winter Bazaar, pre-concerts in the lobby, or in local coffee shops.
Providing attendants with opportunities is Lee’s main goal: opportunities to learn, play, and create memories.
Lee hopes that “Anyone who wants to learn how to play jazz should come.” No matter where they are in their musical journey, “people who want to learn and open their minds to new things,” should swing by jazz club.
