Jazz band members marched through the building playing “Second Line” before school on Tuesday, May 26. Smooth jazz filled the halls as students walked to their first hour class. The group was led by junior Owen DeYoung. 

“Since it is coming to the end of the year, we have been trying to play for people more often,” DeYoung said. “Usually we get a decent amount of people watching.”

The jazz band played before school on Wednesday, May 19 in front of the library as well. Typically, the group meets during zero hour from 6:35 to 7:35 am to practice.

“Every morning we do one of our two simple 12 bar tunes with solos on top of it to warm up and make it something fun,” DeYoung said. “ Then we go through whatever tunes we are playing at the time. Sometimes we play through all of them, but usually we go deeper into a specific tune.” 

DeYoung is grateful for the opportunity to participate in jazz band and has learned a lot from the experience. 

“I love jazz band,” DeYoung said. “ In wind ensemble and marching band there are multiple people per part for most instruments. But, in jazz band there are one, maybe two, people on a part. This makes it so I can show off what I personally bring to the table instead of the section combined.”