For those who are not in the know, the Hingham High School Jazz Band is an audition-based extracurricular group that meets on Tuesdays in the High School Band room and is led by the Hingham Public Schools Band Teacher for grades 7-12, Mr. Cincotta. There they work on everything from improvisation, small group sectionals, and full group performances to watching old videos that relate to Jazz Music, or whatever wild creativity has been in the back of Mr. Cincotta’s mind that day. On most Tuesdays, this is how the weekly Jazz Band meeting goes, but on this past Tuesday, something uniquely wonderful happened.
This past Tuesday’s delightful HHS Jazz Band concert at the Penniman Hill Retirement Center replaced their normal hour and a half rehearsal with a thirty-minute concert where the Jazz Band played an encore of the same repertoire, they performed at their small ensembles concert the previous week. Such events as these, that connect the HHS Band Program with the surrounding community are part of a concerted effort (no pun intended) by Mr. Cincotta to continue his post-pandemic recovery of the Band program which so far has increased steadily in numbers and overall connections with the school and town community.
As for his policy this year, Mr. Cincotta says that “Over the past few months, I have challenged my students to think of themselves as ambassadors for the band program in our community. This has manifested itself in many ways, from increased participation in our Pep Band to performing carols downtown throughout the holiday season. The benefit of this approach is twofold in that it increases public awareness of the excellent work we do in the classroom while also strengthening our connections to each other as a “family” of musicians through these shared experiences.”
At Penniman Hill, the HHS Jazz Band played a rousing selection of traditional jazz standards, most of which were composed and originally performed by the visionary bass player and composer Charles Mingus. For those interested, the selection included several Mingus classics such as Better Get Hit in Your Soul, Pork Pie Hat, and Haitian Fight Song, the last of which started things off with a roar in both Jazz Band performances over the past two weeks. Additionally, the band played Juan Tizol and Duke Ellington’s Perdido, rewritten as a mambo dance tune which in true jazz fashion added a new spin to the standard, as many of the works played have already been recorded in countless distinct variations by different artists before.
By all accounts, the Penniman Hill Concert was a success, as everyone from Mr. Cincotta down to the musicians within the Jazz Band can attest to the numerous benefits it had beyond the sheer publicity value. Mr. Cincotta said, “During our performance at Penniman Hill, the smiles on the faces of the residents spoke directly to the power of music to bridge generational gaps and highlighted why our efforts as “ambassadors” are so vital to the continued success of our program.”
From the woodwinds section, Zach Kenigsberg, a senior at HHS who plays the tenor saxophone in the Jazz Band, said, “I was happy to bring my favorite activity at HHS to the Hingham community. I am excited to do it again.” Similarly, in the brass section, HHS senior and jazz trumpet player Chris Hoppe stated, “It was awesome to get out into the community and have our music make an impact.”
Indeed, the gift of music program events such as these are that the benefits go so far beyond the individual reward of learning a skill on an instrument. As any person knows from listening to a song, or from playing a recorder concert for their family in elementary school, music really can bring joy to people whether they are playing or listening to it, and that infectious joy can lead people to do wonderful things to truly improve our world.
It is people like Mr. Cincotta and other parents and teachers who share this conviction to the power of music who are tirelessly working in the music program to organize events such as the concert at Penniman Hill that bring the HHS community together, and if you ask Mr. Cincotta, there is likely to be many more great performances in town soon. Ever looking to the future, Mr. Cincotta says to all those in Hingham, “I am always on the hunt for additional similar opportunities for the months ahead. If you have a suggestion for a public event in which the band program can participate, feel free to send it our way!”
