Despite inclement weather limiting their rehearsals, Jazz Band hosted their concert at the Dr. Jim Vaszauskas Center for the Performing Arts on March 4. In addition to Legacy’s Jazz Band, the concert featured the University of Texas at Arlington’s jazz group and the Dynamic Swing Machine.
“This is our Jazz Bash, so it’s a little bit of a fundraiser for us as well as a concert, and it’s three different concerts all at the same time,” Mr. Andrew Nance, band director, said. “All three jazz bands were able to be there and perform back to back to back and just give a great example of what live jazz music is in the community.”
Mansfield ISD canceled school for a week because of snow and ice, and a few weeks later all after-school activities were canceled due to potential storms. Band students suffered limited rehearsals, but Mr. Nance believes the students put on a great performance.
“It was a lot of individual preparation on the student’s part,” Mr. Nance said. “Rehearsal was a little rough, but when it came to the performance itself, everyone pulled together and did a really good job.”
Tickets cost $12, with dinner tickets set at $25. In addition to food, the band held an online silent auction. Audience members bid on different baskets, and the profits went to the band. However, the main entertainment remained dancing to music from band members such as sophomore Ty Gery.
“It was really fun because there were a lot of percussions, or there were more percussionists than there have been,” Gery said. “So there’s a lot of people who I knew better than the rest of the band. It was easier to play in front of them than in front of all the people that I didn’t know in the crowd.”
Legacy’s Jazz Band performed seven pieces of various tempos featuring different musicians. Gery enjoyed adding new sounds to the music.
“I really liked the songs that we played. I don’t think I had a favorite, but I liked how it went from we had a really slow song, but then we had a more upbeat piece,” Gery said. “That was just fun to listen to. It was different with every song, but it’s still connected somehow back to jazz.”
The Jazz Bash allowed audience members to see the success of the band and show support for the program. For next year’s concert, Mr. Nance plans to ensure more rehearsal time so his students are set up for success.
“Just seeing all of the hard work come together made me really happy,” Mr. Nance said. “We’re getting better educationally, we’re learning how to play things correctly, but we’re also showcasing some of our top players that have worked really hard and been in the program for a while.”
