Bainbridge High School music students are making their mark on the airwaves and taking places in honor bands around the Northwest.
BHS seniors saxophonist Lang Armstrong and trombonist Margaret Haley were the December guest DJs on KNKX’s “School of Jazz,” the station’s community outreach program that provides mentorship, learning and performance opportunities for Western Washington jazz students from middle school to college.
Both students are in the jazz band and shared a playlist of eight songs that included hits from Ella Fitzgerald, Charlie Parker, Cannonball Adderley and more. During the one-hour program, they talked about how they got started in music, what they like most about jazz and who their heroes are.
Armstrong said he started playing the sax in fifth grade because he heard it on the radio and liked it. While Haley’s first instrument was the tuba, she switched to trombone in high school to play in the marching band.
The duo’s playlist included Haley’s favorite jazz tune, “Hay Burner” by Count Basie.
“I love the way that the tune slowly grows and moves with a laid-back grove. The trombones also have really fun punchy lines while the saxophones have a really catchy melody. I also just love the idea behind the song: a hay burner is an old horse that has lived through its working days and now spends its time eating hay,” Haley said.
Armstrong said his favorite jazz piece is “In A Sentimental Mood” by John Coltrane and Duke Ellington, and said, “the individuality and self-expression” that comes from jazz is what he likes.
Haley also likes freedom of expression. “Jazz was made to have people weave their own melodies through the music, and I think that’s really special. One piece will never sound the same when it’s played by different people.”
Armstrong is serious about jazz. His idol is Charlie Parker, and he’s looking forward to studying music in college next year.
Haley’s jazz hero, Erica Von Kleist, inspires her to improve her music and says she can really relate to her experiences as a woman in the jazz world.
Meanwhile, nine BHS students were selected for honor bands and orchestras.
Four students were accepted into honor bands that are part of the Washington Music Educators Association. In February, they will travel to Bellevue to learn a piece of music and perform.
Making the All -Northwest Band were Armstrong and Isaiah Beyer, who also plays sax.
Making the All-State Band were Claire Bremer, bass clarinet, and Sebastian Ford, sax.
Also, four marching band students were selected to participate in the University of Montana High School All-Star Bands experience in November and performed with high school students from across the Northwest and Canada. They were: Anika Toma, flute; Giada DiMarco, trumpet; Margaret Hale, euphonium; and Lillian Jackson, horn.
Finally, Toma was accepted into the Western International Band Clinic and performed in the Phoenix band.
