I joined the HS Jazz Band this year and I play the keyboard/piano in it. I’m quite new to jazz, but I wanted to challenge myself and see if I could increase my abilities on a previously established area (LO2), as I’ve been trained classically on piano for over 10 years and I learned to comp quite a bit during the musical, Jesus Christ Superstar, last year. I’ve really been practicing hard and participating the AMIS Jazz Workshops have really gotten me closer to my goal of improving my confidence in comping and improv. Eivind Lodemel, our band director, has given us four songs so far, Havona, Cissy Strut, Ran Kan Kan and Chameleon.

We started off the year with Havona and Cissy Strut, the latter of which I found to be pretty easy to play, as it has quite a bit of repetition in it and was relatively easy to sight-read. Havona, on the other hand, had a lot of chords with 11ths and 13ths, so it took a bit more practicing. I was initially nervous to take part in jazz band, as it was a new and strange environment for me, but upon walking into the first rehearsal, I was greeted by my old JCS band members and realized it was a very chill and relaxed setting. The jazz band has grown significantly this year, so oftentimes during rehearsal the rhythm section has to be patient and wait for the saxophones and brass section to tune and run through their parts. I have learned to best utilise this time by turning down the volume on the keyboard or pressing down on the sostenuto pedal and practicing my part without disrupting the brass section.

We are preparing two pieces for a school concert on the 13th of December, Ran Kan Kan and another piece that has yet to be decided. I am very excited as I will be playing piano, not keyboard, for this piece and it is also a Cuban mambo piece that is pretty groovy. I am really glad that I stepped out of my comfort zone this year and joined a music ensemble that allowed me to play my primary instrument and further develop my skills on the piano, and jazz band has helped me gain more confidence in making friends with other musicians and learning to be okay with making mistakes.