Jazz on Summer’s Eve bids farewell to seniors

By Aydan Prime,
Bluedevilhub.com Staff–

Jazz on Summer’s Eve, the last concert of the year for the Jazz Band, bids farewell to the Davis High Jazz Band seniors. The audience enjoyed a lively concert while members of the Jazz Band were able to play with seniors leaving DHS and heading off to college one last time.

The junior high band from Emerson, Holmes and Da Vinci opened the night, followed by the Harper Jazz band, both of which received massive appraisal from parents and members of the high school band in the audience.

After a short intermission, the DHS Jazz Band took the stage with a nearly perfect execution of Sing Sang Sung by George Goodwin, highlighted with solos from several members of the band.

The ballad “I Remember,” featuring Garek Najita on trumpet followed, which was more melancholy and evoked emotional responses from the audience. Najita, a senior, said he did not feel particularly saddened about having finished his time on DHS Jazz Band, and plans on continuing jazz band in college and later as a career.

“Last year it was really sad knowing that a bunch of good friends and players were leaving us, but this year it’s not that I’m sad, I’m glad I met great and exciting people and I plan to visit them all next year when I can,” Najita said.

The band played several more pieces, including a track from the B List movie “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes,” which included a scream integrated at the end of the song by a jazz band member who ran off stage. The night ended on a piece called “Spain.”

DHS Band Director Thomas Slabaugh says he thoroughly enjoys working with the “wonderful group” that is the Jazz Band, and will miss teaching the seniors leaving the school this year.

“It’s sad but it’s also exciting because we’ve had an opportunity to work together all year and they got to pick the majority of the music on the program, stuff they wanted to play. It is sad but it’ll be worse when I see them walk the stage at graduation,” Slabaugh said.

Tenor sax player Emily Phillips says that she will miss the sarcastic attitudes of the seniors and their contribution, both musical and social, to the band. “

I’m going to miss hanging out with them and making fun of Slabaugh and watching bad movies, stuff like that,” Phillips said.

Senior guitar player Max Guerrero says that although he mostly enjoyed playing on Jazz Band, he is ready to move on to other things.

“The first thing I’m doing is going home and burning this tie for my celebration. It’s an awful looking thing,” Guerrero said.