Great Job, Kyle!

The first, and hopefully not last, Jazz alumni concert took place on Sunday evening, January 11 at The Rose Center Theater in Westminster, CA. The good news was that this was a student and alumni run event and included a dozen, or so, alumni from the past few years as well as the current jazz students. Memorable combos from the past, such as the Vangaurd with Devon, Eddie, Austin, Francisco, Kalia, and Josh as well as the famed Black Note Trio with Dan, Tyler, and Cindy performed with the newly formed combo, Momentum, which was a quartet made up of Tyler, Eddie, Graham, and Andrew (sorry, too lazy to include last names. Feel free to comment or add your own entry and include last names). Also returning from the past was the Non-Straight Ahead (NSA) combo. The members of this combo included Andrew, Brett, Kyle, Devon, Ryan, Josh, Francsico and a few others I will include when I get a chance. AJO contained the current band plus all the alumni, including Jannine on Flute playing a beautiful piece written by Tyler (sorry, don't have the name. Is anyone getting the hint that I WOULD LIKE OTHERS TO BLOG?!). AJO primarily played a funk set, which was a lot of fun for the students. The concert went off well with the help of some parents and Mr. Fiddmont, but this was really a student run gig.

And that leads me to the bad news; that this was a student run gig. Not that they didn't do a bang-up job...they did, but I am really disappointed that the school, or at least the Instrumental Music department didn't get behind this more and help to make this a success. In the end it was a success as the music was fantastic, the attendence was decent for a Sunday night, and the parent volunteers came through, as usual. But where was the support from the school and the foundation?

Oh well, can't dwell on the past, only look toward the future. There is a concert coming up on Feb 6 and I am looking forward to it. Reno is also just around to corner and that should be another positive experience for all involved. Let's hope that the earth doesn't shake like last time unless it's from the swining set from the jazz band.

I am also looking forward to others posting their perspectives on this blog. C'mon, share your thoughts and insights. It is always interesting to look back to see what we were thinking and experiencing at any given time.