TOWAMENCIN- Calm down, folks; that isn’t Louie Armstrong.  The music heard was from one of the hundreds of talented high school students who attended the Knight of Jazz.

On February 24, jazz groups from ten high schools gathered in the NPHS auditorium for the Knight of Jazz, an evening that allowed students to exhibit their hard work and dedication to jazz music.  For almost five straight hours, music groups took their turns in the spotlight and were united by their commitment to the arts.

As the host school, NPHS had two musical contingents take the stage: the Columbia Jazz Band and the Navy Jazz Band.

Numbers of North Penn students attended the evening to show support for their classmates, such as Bryce Hambach, also a musician, who remarked that “The Knight of Jazz is all about multiple ensembles from all over the region playing together, and soloists being able to express themselves during the performance.”

The evening was as much of a competition as it was an exhibition.

“The groups will play for a panel of judges and be critiqued afterwards,” Mr. David DeValentino, the director of the NPHS Navy Jazz Band, explained.

He also mentioned that the three North Penn middle school jazz groups were performing.

“This is an exciting night. We have a lot of bands from all over the area,” said Mr. Peter S. Neu, who alongside Mr. John Josten directs the NPHS Columbia Jazz Band.  “This is the first outing of the season for a lot of the bands here tonight, and the season will culminate at the end of April with Championships.”

Several North Penn students who performed with the groups commented on their love of jazz music.

“Our rehearsals this week have been solid, and I feel like we really played up to our standards set at the rehearsals,” said Shak Rahman, who played the tenor saxophone in the Columbia Jazz Band.  Rahman also had a solo performance in the piece Absoludicrous, by Gordon Goodwin.   

“I believe we played really well collectively as a band, and I think we’ll have a lot of success throughout the season,” stated Ryan McDonnell, the lead trombone player for the Colombia Jazz Band.

“I wasn’t sure what to expect from tonight, and we had our fair share of struggles to get through,” commented Nathaniel Maier, a senior who played the trumpet in the Colombia Jazz Band, “but as a section I think we came out great, and the end product was of great quality.”

North Penn students who are interested in performing jazz music can audition for the Colombia Jazz Band or the Navy Jazz Band, both of which are renowned groups made up of directors and musicians who take their art seriously.

The Columbia Jazz Band, directed by Neu and Josten, currently has nineteen members who earned their places by audition.  The group rehearses twice weekly from December to April, with performances year round at high and middle school jazz festivals along with community events and concerts.

“Jazz ensemble is completely different from any other music group,” said Thomas Lloyd, a sophomore who played the trombone with the Colombia Jazz Band. “Jazz ensemble brings out a whole different side to yourself, because you can be free and be all over the place when you play.  To me, that is one of the greatest feelings you can get from music.”

The Navy Band, directed by DiValentino, is made up of twenty-one musicians who attend practices two times a week from December to May.  The ensemble was invited to the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association state conference in Hershey in 2016 and has traveled to Louisiana for the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage festival.

“I really enjoy jazz band because I can do my own thing as a drummer, and I get to listen to the group and interpret it how I want,” explained Carl Hamilton of the Navy Jazz Band. “I truly like that independence.”

Along with practices and performances, both North Penn groups stress ensemble performance, jazz history, improvisation, and music theory.

During the Knight of Jazz, the Colombia Jazz Band and the Navy Jazz Band each performed three pieces, with several students standing out as soloists.  Students on alto, tenor, and baritone saxophone, along with trumpet, trombone, guitar, bass, drums, and piano comprise the two jazz groups.  The dedicated musicians will undoubtedly pursue their love of jazz through their stalwart work ethic and commitment to music.

“I joined jazz band about two-and-a-half weeks ago, playing trombone, which I have never done before,” said Ben Kasander, a senior who had originally performed on the French horn, “and I love it.  I should have done it so much sooner.  If you want to do jazz band, do it!”