My son made the High School Jazzz Orchestra

[Ed S]

Both my boys have always professed to hate jazz - from the time they were toddlers. Over the years, I've read lots of really nice and touching stories here and at BNBB about how someone's child would request to here some jazz or something similar. Not my kids. From the time they could talk, they professed to hate jazz - I kid you not. My approach with my boys is to expose them to music of all types and hope they end of loving it as much as I do. So I never really cared about what they liked, hated or whatever.

Anyway, my oldest - 14 yo - has been playing piano since 1st grade. He's solid and good, though by no means a prodigy. He's also been playing viola in various orchestras since grade 3. Again - an adequate player. If he worked at it, he'd be very good.

At one of his orchestra concerts last year the high school jazz orchestra was a featured act. I had no idea that there was a jazz group at the school. And...lo and behold, they had a piano player in the group. Mind you, I'd never seen a piano at ANY level or in ANY orchestra in this school district. Just string orchestra, band instruments and some fusion thereof in their Symphonic Orchestra. So I got to thinking.......

I could see his musical taste expanding over the last year and I thought my son would really benefit a lot from playing in the jazz orchestra. So, I asked my nephew who plays guitar and keyboards, has a band of his own, and is a student at the Berklee School of Music if he'd do some lessons with my son over the summer so that he could get a feel for playing with other musicians. They did a lot of guitar/piano duets, but also a few full band numbers. I had asked my nephew to work on jazz standards and Afro Blue ended up my son's favorite. Overall, my son really enjoyed the experience and when the semester started last month, I encouraged him to audition for the jazz orchestra.

I was not surprised when he said yes - based on what I had heard him play and the fact that I had discovered that he had actually downloaded some John Coltrane and from I-Tunes. The first audition, however, was so-so. The Jazz Orchestra leader thought he lacked some rhythm and feel and was too stiff. He was told he could re-audition 2 days later, though. I have to give him credit- he was up 'till 11 PM each night practicing his song - Almost Like Being In Love. He really worked his ass off.

His work was rewarded - the orchestra leader was very impressed with how he was able to adjust to how he wanted the song to be played. He's now he's a member of the Orchard Park High School Jazz Orchestra - aka Checkmates. It's an after school activity - which therefore requires some committment on the part of the students - another thing that makes me proud.

After years of hearing how much he hated jazz, never thought I'd see this!

Edited October 19, 2009 by Ed Swinnich

[7/4]

Cool...the proud Daddy-oh!

[Free For All]

Congrats, Ed. He sounds like a great kid. I hope he has a great time in the band!

[jeffcrom]

Very cool. That's one of the things that changed my life.

[Tom Storer]

Congratulations! And most especially to your son!

[RDK]

That's great, Ed!

[.:.impossible]

Great story Ed! I know you're proud. Your son is fortunate to have such a supportive father.

[BruceH]

Great news, Ed!! And a great story. Hope your son has a good time and learns a lot.

[Ed S]

First Jazz Orchestra concert last night.

The orchestra played very well - better than I expected. Most of the time, the piano (my son's instrument) was barely audible as there's quite a robust horn section - but it didn't matter. It was nice to see him up there. I was impressed to see a baritone sax, slide trombone, and vibes in the band. Nice percussion section too. The thing that really impressed me though - and this is a father thing - is how much of a young man he looked like. I'm very proud of him.

Edited January 14, 2010 by Ed Swinnich

[Chuck Nessa]

[JSngry]

Did he pull?

[Brad]

That's great Ed. My son plays guitar in his school's Jazz Band. They actually have two but he didn't get into the one he wanted. The last two years he played clarinet but this year wanted to do guitar.

[Ed S]

Did he pull?

Hard to tell. There's 2 piano players and they alternate songs. Couldn't hear the other one either.

That's great Ed. My son plays guitar in his school's Jazz Band. They actually have two but he didn't get into the one he wanted. The last two years he played clarinet but this year wanted to do guitar.

Excellent Brad. You probably know how I feel, especially given my son's professed dislike of jazz. I think he really enjoyed himself.

Edited January 15, 2010 by Ed Swinnich