The Chaparral Jazz Band performed their annual Chapland show in the PAC April 29, highlighted with an appearance from Ron Wilkins, a trombone player based out of New York City. While the show itself was a huge success, preparation started months ago.
“We had to do a lot of planning, starting back in September to get Ron here from New York,” band director John Pearson said. “What we do is we ask him to pick out a piece he’d like to play, and then the band starts rehearsing that up to the performance.”
The band settled on performing eight pieces: “Autumn Leaves,” “Strasbourg,” “15 Minutes Late,” “Salsa Rico,” “Unparliamentary Language,” “Deep in the Scene,” “Chorale and Alleluia” and “Playas Sing.”
Rehearsing doesn’t just end with the jazz band members, though. Every aspect of the show must be practiced to ensure a successful performance.
“The jazz band has to meet with the tech crew, who then gives us a production timeline for how long it’ll take to make the video content and get the correct microphones, acoustics and all that ready,” Pearson said.
While Chapland may come around each spring, there’s always a new set of faces in the jazz band to start the year.
“Jazz Band is an auditioned class, and the auditions for the next year take place on May 19th,” Pearson said.
You don’t need to have been in the band prior to auditioning for the jazz band.
Many students feel that comparatively, jazz band is one of the lesser demanding band classes.
“We don’t actually do as much rehearsing for the jazz band as we do for the other parts of the band,” senior saxophone Evelyn Curry said. “We mainly only ever practice in class, although occasionally we have to practice a little at home.”
This feeling is shared by newcomers to the jazz band, too.
“Overall, compared to percussion and symphony bands, the jazz band rehearsals were surprisingly manageable,” freshman drum major Cameron Williams said.
While Chapland is performed by a changing group of band students each year, it’s by no means a new aspect of the band: this will be Pearson’s fourth year as band director, and he started Chapland in 2022.
“I started Chapland when I got to Westlake. There’s a famous jazz club in New York City named Birdland, and the letters from Chapland were made to look just like those,” Pearson said. “I thought it would be a cool thing to have a themed concert each year that everyone could look forward to. I think this year was the best performance we’ve had so far.”
The students also think this year really stood out, partly due to the decision to bring in both HCMS and WRMS students from the middle school bands to perform “Pennsylvania 6-5000,” “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” “All of Me” and “Watermelon Man.”
“This year we brought in some middle schoolers which I really loved,” Williams said. “I think the performance was definitely a huge hit with the crowd too. They really loved it.”
Some students were expecting this year to be a success:
“Every concert is better than the last and this was no exception,” Curry said. “There was of course a little nervousness going into it, but this year we really pulled through and made it happen.”
Chapland will be back next year, with yet another exciting special performance. By the time September comes, the band will begin the process all over again, with the entire band looking forward to another triumphant show.
