With the holidays coming up students can always prepare to see the jazz band putting on a show and performing during lunch time. The band, directed by Mr. Doug Hoover, is an elective class with twenty students that choose to perform different types of jazz music.

“We all become close during the class because we enjoy playing the music, and for many we all play in marching band and we like to just play more music,” senior Eli Wasserman said. “It is just a really chill and fun class.”

Jazz band allows students to explore different music from regular band classes and become a part of a group that performs more in front of the community like at the Big Band Dance.

“The Big Band Dance [on March 9] is my favorite part of the year and where we really get to show off what we’ve been working on,” Hoover said. “Our musicians always have a great time performing and it really gets an excited crowd of people dancing and having a great time.”

The band works throughout the year learning around 40 pieces of music to play, and practices various ways including clinicians that will come to the class. The clinicians are different composers that will come and conduct the band.

“The clinicians will work with us on different parts of the music to help us get a different perspective,” junior Leeore Levinstein said. “They point out things we don’t focus on or think about a lot of the time. Everyone has a different interpretation of music so sometimes they’ll have us play it with a different style or emphasize different things.”

The band also tries to engage the student body when performing at lunch. They feature many different pieces like Salsa Caliente!

“It’s really enjoyable and we like to get applauded especially after someone plays a good solo. Having students cheering can help you get in a zone and make you enjoy playing and play better,” Wasserman said.