Jazz Concert
Written by Cale Coryell, Former Student on Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Dim lights fill the room while photos of celebrities past line the walls. A rich, attractive aroma permeates the little restaurant and a stage occupies one wall, from which powerful music emanates. Tula’s Restaurant and Jazz club is the site of an annual Snohomish Jazz Band concert.
This last Sunday, Jazz band students played a packed club, opening for the Jazz Police, with whom Snohomish Jazz band director Pete Wilson has known since high school according to Wilson.
“It actually started before I started teaching at the high school, at least fifteen years ago”, said Wilson, but he says there’s a larger significance to the trip than a friendship between two old musicians.
Wilson said of the trip that “The value is to get them to do something completely different than a school concert or even a festival where typically you play 3 songs and there’s a completely different atmosphere of course”, and Snohomish Jazz band member Nathan Lynch agrees.
Lynch said of the show that “the music is a lot more expressive. It’s a really good experience to go out and listen to other musicians and their interpretation of things”.
According to Wilson there’s another big reason for the trip besides letting the kids in the band see some live music. The jazz band director’s goal in the trip is not only to get kids in the band to learn from higher level playing, but also to appreciate it.
“The other big part is to hopefully have them stick around like I’ve asked them and listen to professional or semi-professional musicians so they can see somebody playing their own instrument at a much higher level”, said Wilson.
