Muscatine jazz students prepare for annual All-City Swing Dance on March 23 – Muscatine Journal

On Saturday, March 23 from 6:30 to 10 p.m., the Merrill Hotel will be hosting the annual All-City Swing Dance. The Muscatine High School jazz band and jazz ensemble will be providing the event’s live music. 

Mr. Lee Plummer, director of the MHS Jazz Ensemble, said the jazz band is open to anyone wanting to give it a try. The jazz ensemble, he said, is a more advanced group that focuses on higher level pieces, competing at competitions and requires an audition before someone can join.

Students Eliana Cangro, Ashton Heim and Iden Simpson all had the chance to become part of the jazz ensemble group.

Cangro said she has not been in a jazz band before but saw it as something new and enjoyable. Meanwhile, Simpson and Heim have had an interest in jazz since middle school and were interested in joining the group once entering high school.

When asked about the experience so far, Simpson shared that he has enjoyed getting to learn about a completely different style of music and has been able to learn more about music in general, learn how to play chords and getting the opportunity to play solos while in jazz ensemble.

Heim shared that he has enjoyed the higher skill level of the pieces that the ensemble played.

“For me, it’s more challenging music to play and I love having that challenge, so I would suggest (joining jazz band) to others who also may be looking for a challenge,” Heim said.

The music the ensemble has learned this year, Plummer said, is called professional charts in which they are written for professional bands. There also is more improvisation with jazz and the students have to learn how to create their own melodies and decipher more than they would in concert band, Plummer explained. 

All three students, along with others in both jazz groups, could agree that the All-City Swing Dance was certainly the highlight of their year. Given that the groups begin practicing in October, Cangro pointed out that the event was “a good opportunity to show off all the work we’ve put in.”

“I’d say that’s probably the most fun experience I’ve had in jazz band,” Heim said.

Plummer said he sees the event as ‘band prom’, in a sense.

“We get a lot of comments from parents and students that they have just as much fun at this event – possibly even more so – than they do at prom,” Plummer said. 

Plummer said another enjoyable aspect of the night for those students who get to perform is allowing themselves to somewhat experience and celebrate the genre’s roots.

“We’re able to do things that are way more involved in the dance side of jazz, really taking it back to the original idea of the genre, which is for entertainment and socializing, so it’s nice to keep that going,” he said.

Although the MHS jazz groups may be wrapping up their seasons, Plummer still encouraged music students to give either group a shot if they’re curious.

“I have plenty of students who tell me that they don’t listen to jazz, and I tell them that while they may not like it at first, they’ll probably be more interested in it once you start playing it,” Plummer said.