And All That Jazz

We have had a very jazzy week. With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, it is the time of year when Daniel and Matthew have their concerts in honor of the holiday of love.

On Thursday evening we drove to Logan to attend the Daniel’s. The USU jazz bands play for a three-night dinner and dance event in a local community. We just go for the music, but honestly, I love watching the older couples dance. These are folks who grew up in the era of classic jazz and swing and one of my favorite parts of the evening is the fact that when they take their sweethearts to a dance, they actually dance! Not only do they know all the traditional social dances, they know which ones go with which kind of song. The younger set doesn’t seem to have that same awareness of which steps to use based on what matches the music. This is the second year that we have gone, and it was just as enjoyable as last year. 

Because Daniel is living away at school, I don’t get to hear him play as often as I once did. This year he auditioned into the upper-level jazz band, and he is taking private lessons again, so I was rather excited to hear him play. He has always loved his music and puts in as much practice time as he can manage, and his abilities reflect the time he puts in. He is playing the tenor sax instead of his alto in the jazz orchestra, and he has gotten really good. It’s always nice to be able to spend some time listening to him play.

Last night was Matthew’s second annual ValenTunes Gala. Last year as they planned the inaugural event, the band teacher asked the kids for suggestions about what to call it. Matthew is the one who suggested the ValenTunes moniker and I’m proud to say that it looks like it is a name that will remain in perpetuity. That’s one of the fun things about attending a fairly new school with a teacher who is brand new to the school. You get to help create the traditions that will remain long after you graduate. Matthew is very pleased that his idea is sticking around! 

This concert also offers dinner, but rather than being a dance, it has more of a New York nightclub kind of a vibe. The lighting was appropriately moody with candles on the tables (although they were electric due to local fire codes) and dimmed overhead lights. Dinner was served in courses as we listened to an hour and a half of fantastic music. There were mixed drinks available (although we did not choose to imbibe even though they were all mocktails). The school jazz choir was on hand to croon to us throughout the evening. And the jazz band gave a fantastic performance. Matthew has also spent a lot of time practicing and his playing reflects the time he puts in. He did a great job, and I was so proud of how well he performed! He has struggled with some performance anxiety in the past, but that was not in evidence last night. He is the lead trumpet, and his high notes were strong and clear and rang out. He was so, so tired by the time he got to the end, but it was truly a great performance. I’m looking forward to being able to attend again next year.

Although it has meant several late nights in a row and my body doesn’t respond well to not getting enough sleep, it has been a great week performance wise and well worth the lack of zzz’s. While both the high school and college bands have a tendency to play the more hard-core modern jazz for their other concerts, these Valentine’s Day ones always feature many of the old jazz standards from the 40’s and 50’s that I love. It makes for several toe tapping evenings of familiar tunes that I greatly enjoy. On the other hand, I think Malia is all jazzed out…