All three of West High’s jazz bands participated in the annual Jazz Cafe on Dec. 13. Jazz Lab, Jazz Collective and Jazz Ensemble played in the cafeteria, which was decorated to emulate a jazz club. The event is a hallmark of the holiday season, offering the community treats, hot drinks and live music with a special guest.
“I love Jazz Cafe. I think all the competitions are really important, but I think Jazz Cafe is what’s almost always our most significant in-house showcase of our charts and the time we put into it. The atmosphere is just always the best,” Jazz Ensemble saxophonist Maddux Neukirch ’27 said.
This year, the bands worked with trombonist Catie Hickey. Hickey is both a music educator and professional performer based in Chicago. She held a clinic with the bands during the school day on Dec. 12 and then soloed and played with them during the concert.
“We also get to work with guest artists, which is super cool, because getting to work with professional players is not an experience that everyone gets,” Jazz Ensemble drummer Derick Doresca ’26 said.
“Even with just two days working with them, we get so much better because they’re just so knowledgeable…It’s just a privilege to be able to play with those people,” Doresca said.
Jazz Lab opened the concert with “Synonymic Bossa” by Paul White, followed by “Blues Melba” by Melba Liston and arranged by guest artist Hickey. They closed their set with “Jody Grind” by Horace Silver and arranged by Mark Taylor.
Second up, Jazz Collective played three charts: “Alamode” by Curtis Fuller and arranged by Paul Murtha; “Sagebrush” by Annie Booth; “Work Song” by Nat Adderley and arranged by Erik Morales; “Autumn Serenade” by Peter De Rose and Sammy Gallop and arranged by Nick Roach; and “Second Line (Joe Avery Blues)” arranged by Victor Goines.
To close the Cafe, Jazz Ensemble played seven charts, which were “Uptown Swing” by Mark Taylor, “Bolivian Fantasy” by Michael Philip Mossman, “Bill’s Blues” by Bill Stapleton, “Takin’ it to Church” by Shelton Berg, “Spectrum” by Bob Mintzer, “(It’s Just) Talk” by Pat Metheny and arranged by Bob Curnow and “Winter Wonderland” by Felix Bernard and arranged by Dave Barduhn.
“These are normally the more fun songs where everyone gets to solo on them and it’s super cool because it’s this low stress environment where we all just get to have fun and go out there and enjoy coming together to make this music,” Doresca said.
Jazz Ensemble soloists included Colin Wehrle ‘27, Maddux Neukirch ‘27, Nathan Butler ‘27, Connor Wagner ‘28, Sean Kearney ‘26, Derick Doresca ‘26, Sam Weitz ‘26, Kazu Goto ‘28, Zac Kaplan ‘29 and Kobi Nott ‘26.
Jazz Collective trombonist Colin Greenlee ’28 chose to solo on opener “Alamode.” “I like the song, I thought it was cool. And then also it had pretty easy chord changes that I didn’t have to think about,” Greenlee said.
“The environment is pretty cool. It’s like holiday-themed, winter-themed, there are cool lights on the stage. It’s very chillaxed,” Greenlee said.
Jazz Cafe marks the beginning of jazz competition season. The bands will start working on their competition sets to prepare for their first competition at Southeast Polk High School on Feb. 14, and will perform the same music in concert for family and friends on March 3.
Hickey will return to Iowa City as a guest artist and clinician at the University of Iowa on Feb. 26. The concert will be free and available to the public.
