Middle school bands find their groove at Jazz Jamboree

The 21st annual Jazz Jamboree, held earlier this month at Thomas Middle School in Arlington Heights, took Megan Duffy back to her roots.

Now in her third year as band director at Cass Junior High School in Darien - after playing in the marching bands at Hersey High School and with the Marching Illini - she developed a love of playing in band at Thomas, and her former band director, Dana Berry, still runs the festival.

"It's fun bringing my band back to where I used to play," Duffy said. "I played in this festival and it's just such a high quality environment that I want my students to experience."

This year's edition was the largest, with as many 14 bands playing throughout the day, in two different venues. With the completion of the school's second gym, it gave Berry a chance to expand the festival and give students more chances to hear other ensembles.

They included: Lincoln Middle School, River Trails Middle School and Saint Raymond's School, all in Mount Prospect; South and Thomas middle schools in Arlington Heights; MacArthur Middle School in Prospect Heights; Fremont Middle School in Mundelein; Indian Trail Junior High School in Addison, Wood Dale Junior High School in Wood Dale, Blackhawk Middle School in Bensenville; Emerson Middle School in Niles; Parkland School in McHenry; Hinsdale Middle School and Cass Junior High School in Darien.

Berry stresses that the bands were all junior high ensembles, and that the goal of the event is to be an educational environment, not a competitive one.

"The whole idea is that they have fun performing," Berry said, "and that they get good feedback from the clinicians."

The clinicians included a mix of professional and academic musicians, who worked with the young jazz bands for 30 minutes immediately following their sets.

But for many of the students on hand, it was all about playing their music - outside the familiar walls of their respective band rooms.

"It feels a little like a competition, but I like watching all the people enjoy our music," said seventh-grade saxophonist Julian Montesinos, who plays in the jazz band at St. Raymond School in Mount Prospect.

His classmate, sixth-grade baritone player Teddy Riefke of Mount Prospect, said it was his first time playing in a jazz festival, and he liked it.

"I like seeing all the schools come together," Teddy said. "I don't get to hear many other bands usually."

All of the schools played familiar jazz standards, from "Hit the Road Jack," to Duke Ellington's "In a Mellow Tone," to Latin favorites, like Santana's "Oye, Como Va."

The biggest trend that Berry sees is the increase in soloists playing during the set, which calls for improvisation as well as a knowledge of rhythm and phrasing.

Students in Berry's jazz band, who were the last ensemble to play, said they loved playing the swing chart in their set, called "Big Swing Face," originally recorded by the legendary jazz drummer Buddy Rich and his band.

Charlie Schmidt, an eighth-grade drummer in the Thomas Jazz Band, gets to play the parts Rich played back in the 1960s, when he recorded it.

"I get to play a solo," Charlie says. "It's only four bars, but I love it."