From the category archives:

West Ranch High School Jazz Band

Working With Antoinette Perry & Don Menza

by Rachel on February 28, 2010

Being a teenage musician in a place like Los Angeles has got its perks. I’ve got access to the Hollywood Bowl, the Baked Potato, the Monterey Jazz Festival, and the California Institute of the Arts — not to mention access to thousands of musicians associated with LA-based music organizations. Nevertheless, it’s still exciting to meet [...]

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Why This Weekend Was Crazy Enough to Write About It:

by Rachel on December 6, 2009

Being involved in many music programs as a high school student has its perks, but sometimes I find myself diving head first into weekends like these:
1. Saturday, 7:30 am: The SAT.
There’s nothing much to say about this one except for the fact that it pretty much rendered me useless for the rest of the day.
2. [...]

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What Is This Thing Called Love? (It’s definitely not recording a CD.)

by Rachel on December 3, 2009

I recently sent in a self-recording for an All-California Jazz Band audition (check it out at CBDA.org) — it was the first time I’d ever done a recording for anything to do with jazz. Like any good musician, I waited until the weekend before the audition tapes were due to begin recording — because recording [...]

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Hanging out with Gordon Goodwin

by Rachel on November 9, 2009

For Gordon Goodwin, it was probably just another solo. But for me, I couldn’t fully grasp it — I was sitting on the same bench as him, watching him improvise on the keys of the old upright Yamaha that I play every morning. I was balancing myself on the edge of the bench so I [...]

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Today’s Real Book Picks

by Rachel on September 24, 2009

If you haven’t got the slightest idea what I’m talking about, check out yesterday’s post to see what’s been happening with the West Ranch High School jazz band.
Today we opened the Real Book to Erroll Garner’s Misty:

It’s one of those romantic sitting-in-a-bar-contemplating-life tunes. This recording’s got a bit of a classical touch with the whole [...]

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Real Book Love

by Rachel on September 23, 2009

Back in the jazz room at West Ranch High School I’m lucky enough to have these three things: a trendy Yamaha keyboard (a similar one to the Motif model), a jazz band-exclusive standup Yamaha piano (unfortunately, the choir has already claimed the baby grand), and the fifth-edition Real Book 1 & 2.
But the keyboard’s got [...]

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Of Combos, Doghouses, and Pink Casts.

by Rachel on September 5, 2009

So now that my computer’s finished its anti-internet rebellion, I can finally show you some of the new jazz that the West Ranch High School Studio A Jazz Band played in the past few weeks. Our lineup included How High the Moon, Out of the Doghouse, and Ride the Nightbeast. Here we’re performing the second tune [...]

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