Rob Parton emerges and snaps out a beat. The band reels in the audience with a muted snake-charmer tune, slowly adding body to the tone of his trumpet while the rest of his group backs him up. A collective wail screeches the song to a sudden stop.
The Rob Parton Big Band headlined an evening performance at the seventh annual Evanston Jazz Festival on Saturday at Evanston Township High School, 1600 Dodge Ave.
Organizers said it was their “largest ever,” with 45 musical groups from 18 schools participating. During the day, students performed for professional musicians who counseled them on areas for improvement.
“The goal of the festival is to provide an opportunity for students from all over to both perform and get feedback from professionals and educators in the jazz fields,” said Barbara Goodman, who has been one of the event’s co-chairs for seven years.Not only do jazz bands and combos-smaller groups usually of about five students-play for each other throughout the day, but students also have the chance to attend workshops on diverse subjects such as solo improvisation and writing scores for television.
Participants listen to different perspectives on a group’s performance and learn how to improve it in a non-competitive setting.
“It’s not ‘first place or second place,'” said Josh Isenstein, an ETHS sophomore who plays tenor saxophone. “It’s just really a chance to hear music, to learn about what other bands sound like and to hear what you can do better from people who really know what they’re talking about.”
Besides professional musicians, students also collaborated with Northwestern students.
Chris Madsen, jazz program coordinator at NU and a member of Rob Parton Big Band, brought five students from the NU Jazz Combo to play.
“It was good to play with high school kids,” said Ken Ross, a guitarist with the group. “It brought us back a few years.”
After the daytime activities, hundreds of students, staff and parents met again that evening for a concert featuring the ETHS Jazz Ensemble, the Moment’s Notice combo and Rob Parton Big Band. The Moment’s Notice combo’s number was a song specially commissioned to honor John Benson, an ETHS math teacher retiring this year after 40 years as an educator. Benson, a jazz aficionado, also emceed the event.
“Wow, I’m almost speechless,” Benson said jokingly, about the tribute.
After the ETHS groups, Rob Parton Big Band took over the stage. Band members played classics from Duke Ellington to Maynard Ferguson and ended with Benson’s reading a short history of jazz while the band filled it out with snippets of songs.
“It’s been wonderful playing to such incredible students and such a warm crowd,” said Rob Parton, the leader of the band. “I’m glad to see it was so well received.”
Benson recognized several parents and one student who organized the festival from the beginning, including Goodman, and are passing on the responsibility to other ETHS parents. Goodman said she thinks the festival will continue to thrive.
“It’s been tweaked every year a little bit,” Goodman said. “The festival is only getting better and better every year. I believe it’s really in a nice solid footing, and it’s going to continue in a really positive way.”[email protected]
