Jazz music has been a medium of creative expression since its early 20th century formation in the Deep South. White Station’s Jazz Band course has transferred this style to the educational environment.

Brian Sims, who teaches the class, enjoys the creative process Jazz Band provides and observing his students’ progress.

“Unlike a concert ensemble, a large portion of the course is centered around improvisation, which for many is very scary until they realize they already possess a lot of the tools needed,” Sims said. “I love watching students grow, and this class forces growth faster than any other I work with aside from AP Music Theory.”

Leodan Rodriguez (11), who has played the trombone in Jazz Band since his sophomore year, described the beginning of the class as similar to others. Students learn fundamental techniques and chord progressions with worksheets and slow practice. Over time, they build on that foundation and identify the sound they want.

“We’d all find a style that we would all, as one band, come together and play,” Rodriguez said. “And after a while, we started losing the shyness that we had performing, and we’d incorporate improvisation.”

Improvisation and the freedom accompanying it are what initially attracted Rodriguez to jazz.

“In classical music, a lot of the time you don’t get that chance to really open up and play the feeling that you want to play,” Rodriguez said. “With classical it’s just written out for you—how the composer wants you to play and what that writer’s feeling at the time he wrote it—so you have to imitate that person. With jazz, of course there will be songs that are happy or sad, but you can shift the chords, the style and the melody that you’re playing so you can adapt that song to your own personal level.”

The students of Jazz Band are involved with musical events both individually and as a class. Some have participated in ensembles at the All-West Tennessee School Band and Orchestra Association and a few are alternates for the All-State Tennessee Music Educators Association. Jazz Band also performed at the All-City WTSBOA Jazz Festival April 21, and they have even had the opportunity to learn from professionals.

“We have been collaborating with a composer from Boston, Massachusetts who has been writing original works for our students with a performance of one of the pieces to come May 5,” Sims said.

The band also had the opportunity to learn from experienced, multitalented musician Mitch Frohman, whom Sims considers a world-class performer, through a series of Skype interviews after a field trip to Cleveland, Ohio.

“We will be trying to play for everyone closer to the end of the year to let people know what we possess, and that there is a wealth of talent in this school that few probably are aware of,” Sims said.

Sims’s interest in jazz came from his personal familiarity with the style. He grew up in the Northwest, where jazz music is as popular as blues music is in Memphis.

“I started going to jazz clubs when I was in high school,” Sims said. “[I] was fortunate enough, through the help of my brother, to meet, study and eventually work with many of the musicians I was going to see.”

Rodriguez plans to continue music after high school, because he considers jazz a form of stress-relief. He noted his own close relationship to the genre and the obstacles new students face when joining Jazz Band.

“If you’re not used to jazz like I was, it’s a whole different world,” Rodriguez said. “‘Style is different; the criteria is different; the music is different; the musicians are different. It’s something that you’re going to need time to adapt to. But it’s a good difficulty. I think every musician should be exposed to a little bit of jazz in their life. It’s a one of a kind experience.”