Jazz Components

Think of a jazz band. What pops into your head first? Is it the sharp tones of the trumpets, the easy sound of the trombone, or the cool chill of the sax section? All of these characteristics make up a jazz band; with one section missing the sound is as empty as the middle of a donut.

Trumpets. They drive on my nerves and are always cocky, but they are an essential component to the whole feel of a jazz band. Trumpets usually make or break the overall effect that the music has on an audience. If the trumpet section isn’t perfect or doesn’t give the band a commanding tone, the whole band sounds bad to me. Last year, the trumpets in the jazz band that I was involved in, were not astounding. The trumpets in my jazz band made us sound like a middle school jazz band and incredibly unprofessional. This group of musicians mostly thought that they were good enough without having to get any better; this is the part of the trumpet mentality that drives me nuts. No one is ever good enough with where they are at right now, especially musicians have to constantly work to get better. In music, no one is perfect, there is always something that can be improved. Whether it is making their tone better or learning to have confidence in playing, there is always some detail that can be better. Since the trumpet section was not willing to work at getting better on their own, the whole band was forced to play middle school level music just so the trumpets could play the music. Even though trumpets usually are annoying, without them the jazz band wouldn’t be a band. 

Trumpets may be the head of the band but trombones are the arms that grip the audience into every piece. Just looking at the shape of the trombone suggests that the tone produced will be interesting. Because of the shape, trombones have one of the most difficult instruments as they are simply playing a large tuning slide. This also gives trombone players an advantage because they can always be in tune by simply moving their hand a couple of millimeters. Maybe this is why I have thought the trombone as the weird but perfect instrument. The trombones give the whole texture of a strange unique sound that can’t quite be described as anything other than a trombone. The Kennedy High School trombones last year were the second best section of the three wind categories. They had strong players that could play every note correct but not necessarily in the correct style. 

Finally, the cherry on top of a sundae, the sax section. The sound of the saxophone gives the whole band a laid back and smooth feel; as if the saxes were creating a hole in the ground with their sweet sound. Of course the best spot to hold in the band is the Bari sax. It is that low voice you hear creeping into the background or the brick on the gas pedal that drives the whole band. I might be slightly biased as I am a Bari sax player myself, but the Bari has much better parts that are without a doubt, more fun than any part in the band. Last year, in Kennedy Jazz One, the saxes were a whole level above every other section but we were dragged down by the trumpets. We never were featured, even though it would have made us sound better as a band, because the trumpets couldn’t figure out how to practice on their own to get better. The saxes were also the most reliable section as the first alto is a professional level musician and she is only in high school. With the first alto and myself, really everybody was able to achieve a glorious sound and be accurate every time. Without the saxes, the Kennedy Jazz Band would not have been as good as we were. The saxes alone create a whole mood and sound that if it were missing the band would sound too much like nails on a chalkboard.

Every wind instrument in a jazz band is equally important and needed because without one section the band would sound terrible. I can’t take all the credit from last year, but the sax section, along with the trombone section, led the band and put us in higher positions even without the trumpets. In a way the trumpets were left behind on an island all isolated and not doing anything to get back home. The trumpets could only look on as the great ship saxo-bone sailed away.