Cara Martinez
Staff Writer
The Mira Costa jazz band held its last concert of the year on June 2 in the small theatre, in order to showcase all of the pieces the jazz students have been working on as a group all year.
The Jazz Band played a total of 11 songs including “Sweet Georgia Upside Down” and “Not To Be Forgotten.” There were five different jazz groups including Jazz 1, Jazz 2 that performed and three different combination groups. The groups performed in different styles, such as standard swing, funk and eclectic modern.
“Our practicing stemmed from the core technique,” Mira Costa Band Director Joel Carlson said. “When we got together as an ensemble this group mentality came together. You couldn’t make this music without other people so learning to work together and collaborate made this a collaborative art form in many ways.”
The Jazz Band practiced their pieces all year in various competitions, such as the Fullerton Jazz Festival and the Berklee High School Jazz Festival. According to Carlson, students focused on improvisation, soloing, combos and developing the ability to play the music and styles.
“I think it is very cool to have an all jazz concert and we have had it for a number of years now, Carlson said. “I think jazz has been strong enough to hold its own here, especially with its own successes here at the Berklee festival in Boston and the Fullerton festival.”
There were a total of 24 soloists including Seniors, Matthew Kennedy, Matthew DuMont and Jules Gilliam. Kennedy performed Radiohead’s “Kid A” and his practice process consisted of going over the chords and recording the piece, Kennedy said.
“I think my piece is very meditative and the rhythms are not the same,” Kennedy said. “I liked being a soloist because it gave me a chance to express myself creatively.”
According to Carlson the concert preparation was successful and there was a large mix of people who pursued soloing and students also pursued stylistic playing.
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