With the largest marching band in the nation, there are a multitude of musicians wandering the halls of Allen High School. However, to be a part of the Allen Jazz Band, one must have the desire to make music that emanates from a true jazz soul. It’s this common connection that enables a group of diverse talents to come together, under the direction of Mr. Tony Daniels, to form a tightly-knit ensemble.

“Jazz band is a collaboration between peers,” senior Graham Houpt, the jazz band’s trombone leader, said, “to find the best sound that we can possibly produce. It’s less of Mr. Daniels telling us what to do, and it’s more of us just playing off of each other.”

Jazz is defined, in the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, as: “a type of American music, with lively rhythms and melodies that are often made up by musicians as they play.” Jazz is mainly composed of improvisation, and, when you are the leader of a section, it depends on you to set the example that everyone else in the ensemble must match.

“As a good lead player, I have to let everyone know what I’m going to do,” senior John Graham, the jazz band’s lead trumpet, said. “I can’t just do whatever the heck I want, because otherwise, it’s in discord, it’s chaos. We have to be a group.”

An appeal of jazz band could be the freedom the student has. A jazz musician is free to push the boundaries of the piece to create a more personal sound, unique only to them. The jazz sound is more personal, more emotional, more expressive, due to the musician’s power to take the piece in any direction they please.

“It’s much more lively, and full of emotion, than classical music is,” Graham said. “It’s emotional, a fever dream of music and ridiculously good playing.”

Patrick Star once famously said, “I don’t get jazz.” I, for one, am not the biggest fan of the genre, but I do not dislike it either. However, Houpt said he believes there’s some type of jazz for everyone. Except for Kenny G.; Kenny G., “is not jazz,” Houpt said.

“I feel like jazz, a lot of the time, is pigeon-holed as elevator music,” Houpt said. “The people that say that they don’t like jazz, haven’t listened to the right kind of jazz. There’s so many different styles, that there’s literally something for everyone. That’s one of my main goals, as a musician, is to make people notice that jazz is the most diverse genre that exists.”

The ensemble meets during seventh period, in the percussion room adjoining the band hall. Their spring concert is April 27, and they will be performing alongside the Encore Choir, in their concert, May 8-9.