Jazz Ensemble, although it is an extracurricular team in most schools, is an honors-level class at WJ with __ students. The band consists of saxophones, trombones, trumpets, guitar, piano and drums. While some students play multiple instruments, each has a distinct role.
“In Jazz Band, you have your part,” said senior Molly Narkis. “It’s more individual so everyone is sort of accountable [for] their own [performance] and everyone plays a big part.”
Narkis, who plays the alto saxophone, also studied the clarinet and ukulele. She has been playing the saxophone for __years. Narkis joined Jazz Ensemble, commonly referred to as Jazz Band, in her sophomore year, the first year that WJ competed in the Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival.
The band placed first in this festival in 2011 and third in 2012, and has been invited to compete again this February. The group participates in only two major competitions, the Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival and the Chantilly Jazz Invitational, which will be held in March. In addition to these large performances, the band plays once a month on average. October 4 marks the ensemble’s first performance of this school year, at the meeting for rising freshmen. The band will play again at the Senior Citizens’ Luncheon, followed by Montgomery County’s Big Band Festival.
“[Where we perform] depends on the opportunities and the calendar,” said music resource teacher Christopher Kosmaceski, but the amount of contests they participate in has been increasing over time.
The team has been led by Kosmaceski since 2005. He trains the band and sets its schedule, but does not hold practices outside of class. Instead, before a contest, different sections of the band often meet to practice their parts.
“Mr. [Kosmaceski] is a really great director and always gets the best out of us,” said junior Henry Godfrey, who plays the drum set.
Godfrey has been playing drums for nearly seven years. Along with jazz band, he is also in Concert Orchestra, Drumline, Pep Band and Jazz Combo. Jazz Combo is a group of five students in Jazz Band that performs twice a month on average and meets outside of school.“We get a lot of our gigs outside of school but through Mr. [Kosmaceski],” said Godfrey.
In addition to these independent performances, the members of Jazz Combo are also responsible for playing in the class’ concerts and competitions. The two festivals that Jazz Band participates in are unique in that the top three teams are ranked and given professional feedback.
“It’s an educational experience because we’re getting some feedback,” said Kosmaceski. “There’s a professional jazz clinic who’s listening to the performance. They meet you in another room and tell you how to improve.”
During festivals, the Jazz Ensemble must play music from multiple genres, such as Swing, Latin, ballads and contemporary. Some of the competitions have more specific requirements than others.
Both Godfrey and Narkis notice a major distinction between Jazz Ensemble and other forms of music they have studied.
“In Orchestra, the notes are all written out for you, no matter what instrument you’re playing, including percussion,” said Godfey. “[Jazz Band] gives you a lot more freedom.”
“A huge part of [jazz] is getting the right feel,” said Narkis. “You can play a song technically with the wrong feel and it would just be terrible.”
Kosmaceski, who also teaches AP Music Theory, Symphonic Orchestra, Wind Ensemble and Concert Band, recognizes the difference in the musical genres themselves but still teaches them in the same way.
“[In jazz], the parts are independent, and the style is different,” Kosmaceski said. “The inflection of the notes [and] the nuances [are] placed differently in jazz music.”
