Willamette Jazz Ensemble performance at Fairfield
On Wednesday November 16, 2011, the Willamette High Jazz Ensemble performed for 3rd-5th grade students and staff atFairfieldElementary School. Band Director Bart Ellis had planned the performance for several weeks. The purposes of the performance was to introduce elementary students to “Big Band” music, explain that when they become high school students, organizations like Jazz Band are one out of several choices they can make to be involved. Other supporting reasons for the performance was to let high school students a chance to share what they are doing and having fun performing music.
There were a couple highlights of the concert, one being the band played a jazz chart called “Ja-Da”, which was written for the Count Basie Big Band, but it is also known as the Fairfield School Song so most of the elementary students knew the melody! In talking with some of my elementary students today, they were saying the band was awesome. A magic moment for the high school students was being asked for their autograph at the conclusion of the concert.