As the school year starts to ramp up, so do many of the High School clubs and extracurriculars. One of those great clubs is the Hingham High School Jazz Band.
Jazz Band runs between 7:00 and 8:30 every Tuesday. The Jazz Band, run by Mr. Cincotta, is a wonderful way for students to express themselves through the arts and more specifically music. Joe Andrews, a senior, states, “I love Jazz Band because it acts as a creative outlet for me, and I can express myself through innovation and improvisation.”
This is a great opportunity for many students that feel the same way about not getting to express themselves throughout the course of the school day. Jazz Band offers many opportunities as improvisations and solos are a common occurrence.
Other students joined the Jazz Band for several reasons. Zachary Kenigsberg, also a senior, states, “So me personally, I joined the Jazz Band because I really love Jazz as a music genre. I am really interested in events such as the Harlem Renaissance, and how New Orleans and New York (were influenced by jazz). Those are some of my favorite cities for their history and culture, which jazz had a big part in creating.” The Jazz Band offers so many different opportunities along with also touching on some of the history that goes along with Jazz.
During Jazz Band, there are a variety of different instruments played. Some of the instruments include trumpets, trombones, saxophones, a bass, a piano, along with different percussion instruments including their drum set. All these instruments have been used in jazz since its dawn and give the band an authentic sound and feel. After talking to many of the players, it was a common agreement that Perdido was their favorite song. This classic jazz piece written by Duke Ellington, has been a favorite of many due to it being upbeat and fast. The song also includes a few solos, which also gets many of them excited to play it for their concert during the winter months.
This group has been having a great time working together and collaborating on their string of great jazz pieces. Other students, middle and high schoolers, have many reasons to be enthusiastic about joining the Hingham High School Jazz Band according to the person running the club, Mr. Cincotta. Mr. Cincotta states, “For students in the music program, being a member of the jazz band offers an opportunity to approach the art form in a new and exciting way. The group’s focus on improvisation really encourages artistic freedom and self-expression, and the inclusion of student-run, small group ‘sectionals’ at our rehearsals develops confidence, independence and collaboration.”
As stated above by Mr. Cincotta, this group of very talented and driven students looking to advance their skills in music are all very grateful for this opportunity Mr. Cincotta has created. This group does a great job of getting students involved and excited about playing these great pieces in the genre of jazz.
