Jazz Band places second in large ensemble division at jazz festival

By Madeleine Powell

Staff Writer

The Mira Costa Jazz Band traveled to Boston, Massachusetts on Feb. 11 to participate in the Berklee High School Jazz Festival and placed second in the large ensemble division for their performances of Anthropology by Charlie Parker, At This Point in Time by Rick Lawn, and Have You Heard by Bob Curnow.

Photos: The Mira Costa Jazz Band’s travels to Boston to participate in the Berklee High School Jazz Festival.

Jazz Band members Jesse Eads and Jules Gillam also won Outstanding Musicianship Awards for their performances. Jules Gilliam and Max Rohde received the Judges Choice Spotlight Award.

“This is our first year going,” freshman jazz band member Dexter Brown said. “It is cool to be performing at this level.”

Visit the Mira Costa Band website for information and updates on the bands’ past and future activities.

The Jazz Band has been planning to attend the festival since the end of the 2015-2016 school year, according to junior jazz band member Dave Jha. They began work for the pieces that they planned on performing in January, and have been developing their jazz musicianship throughout the course of the 2015-2016 school year, Jha said.

Visit the Berklee High School Jazz Festival for more information on the bands’ past and future activities.

“The [concert ensembles], last year, went to Carnegie Hall,” Jha said. “Mr. Carlson felt that our band was especially ready to perform at a higher level.”

The Jazz Band performed a total of six pieces at the festival, both in large and small groups. According to Jha, the large ensemble was limited to 18 minutes of performing, so Costa worked to ensure that their pieces did not exceed the limit.

“Our total amount of pieces gets up to that time limit,” Jha said. “We [had] to figure out the transitions and everything, making sure we could go through the pieces at the fastest rate we [could].”

The Berklee High School Jazz Festival, which started in 1969, is the largest high school jazz festival in the United States. In 2017, 133 high schools from 15 states participated in the festival. Mira Costa was one of two participating schools from California.

“I find [jazz] a really good outlet for expression and it’s really an alleviating thing when you play music,” Jha said. “If you’re stressed, you can play music and count on it to make you more relaxed.”