It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing, and the Dos Pueblos High Jazz Band is out to prove just that at the school’s 40th Annual Jazz Festival on Saturday.
The DP Advanced Jazz Band will be taking its cues from the well-loved but rarely heard “Kansas City Suite,” a major work composed by saxophonist and trumpeter Benny Carter in the 1960s in honor of Count Basie.
“It was recorded only once on LP,” said Jazz Band director Les Rose. “The only other recording is by the North Texas State Two O’Clock College (Lab) Band on CD.”
The Dos Pueblos band is in the process of making what could be the third known recording of the work, Rose said.
But it won’t be just the DP Jazz Band at the festival. Fourteen school jazz bands from Los Angeles to San Luis Obispo will be performing and competing in the daylong event that begins at 10 a.m. and ends at 6 p.m., with an evening concert to follow at 7 p.m. The concert, a fundraiser, will feature the DP Jazz Band, the SBCC Lunch Break Band, and the Monday Madness jazz band, directed by none other than former Dos Pueblos High jazz guru Ike Jenkins.
“We’re calling the evening ‘Big Band Madness’,” Rose said.
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This will be the second year that the bands will be playing in Dos Pueblos’ Performing Arts Center, a state-of-the art theater that guarantees a great listening experience.
“All those other years we were in the cafeteria,” said Rose. “It’s … it’s not a theater.”
As much as the theater improves the sound, no one is relying on the enhanced acoustics for a better performance. Rose has been drilling his group for the event, the recording studio and future competitions throughout California.
The band members are loving it, though.
“I’ve always liked playing an instrument,” said John Yi, a saxophonist who was formerly in the marching band but moved up through the beginning jazz class into the advanced. “I just really like music.”
It’s this kind of interest that Rose hopes to build upon, providing opportunities for his present configuration of students, and future classes. Many of his band members come from other genres — classical music or marching band — but with a bit of training in jazz conception, said Rose, they can become superb jazz musicians.
“The (Santa Barbara) School District does provide for good music education,” he said. “Even if we sometimes have to fight for our survival.”
New this year will be the addition of a jazz vocalist, an idea rare for a big band jazz group. Rachelle Clark is joining the jazz band this year to flex her newfound jazz vocals.
“It’s very challenging,” said the singer, who has a background in musical theater. “But it’s fun.”
Tickets for the jazz festival are $8 at the door for the jazz festival, $10 for the Saturday evening concert, or $15 for both. All proceeds go to the Dos Pueblos High music program.
— Noozhawk staff writer Sonia Fernandez can be reached at sfernandez@noozhawk.com.