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On Feb. 27, NS hosted the regional jazz festival where the NS jazz band received perfect scores. Because of the superior ratings the band received, they will go on to compete at the state level on March 21.
“We played really well,” music teacher Tim Kidder said. “It was a good performance. Perfect scores are a big deal.”
The band performed three songs, “Big Swing Face” and “Cold Duck Time” arranged by Alan Baylock, and “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” composed by Charles Mingus.
“Some years we get to this point and I’m like, ‘Oh, I hate this tune now,’” Kidder said. “This year it’s like I could play them again next year. I love these pieces, they’re so much fun.”
The song choices excited some players who already knew of the pieces before receiving them.
“When we started ‘Cold Duck Time’, I listened to that song before we even started playing it,” junior Ben Hathaway said. “I was like, ‘Dude, we got this song!?’ It was really fun.”
Requirements for state are to receive scores of at least 1, 1 and 1- for their overall performance. The scoring is on a scale from 5-1 with plus and minuses, and 1 being a perfect score. Bands must also sight-read a piece to qualify. The bands are given a few pieces to choose from, have 5 minutes to review the song and then perform the piece.
Jazz band is a zero-hour class that meets every morning before school. This year, the class is unusually young; there are no seniors among the 17 band members. Despite having younger players the band has still excelled.
“Everybody has exceeded my expectations for the year,” Kidder said. “It’s been pretty awesome.”
The jazz band will compete at state as the smallest school. As one of three 3A schools that qualified, NS is the smallest. Even though they are small, they play at a high level.
“[Kidder] is so good at teaching jazz principles and making it interesting and inspiring us to practice and actually work,” junior Tyce Walker said. “Taking us to a level that we couldn’t get anywhere else with other teachers.”
Though the band received perfect scores, there are still areas where they can improve and the band will continue to work on their pieces to become better.
“We have all the songs, like notes and rhythms down pretty good,” sophomore Chesney Howard said. “I feel like we need to work on our timing a little bit better, keeping time and not rushing or dragging and then some more on dynamics.”
To Kidder, the band has already proven themselves through their hard work and commitment.
“I’m just really proud of the students and what they’ve done,” Kidder said. “Looking around at our region and listening to those other bands it just kind of emphasizes how cool our kids are and how hard they work. What they do to separate themselves from their competition. I’m really proud of everything they’ve accomplished.”
