ASHLAND — Ashland High Jazz Band’s Festival Concert happens annually, Kayla Selan, a senior in the band, said. The pieces they perform at the concert will be presented at Ashland University’s Maplerock Jazz Festival next week, too.
In her experience though, Selan said they’ve played that concert for an intimate crowd of friends and family.
This year, the concert will be a bigger deal. The Distinguished Alumni Jazz Band will perform following the high school jazz band.
Ashland High grads from the class of 1980 through the class of 2023 will return to their old stage to perform 11 pieces, in addition to the jazz band’s selections.
Many of the grads likely learned from Neil Ebert, the jazz band’s current director, at one point or another in their music journeys. Ebert has been with Ashland City Schools since 1978, and retires this year after over 45 years of teaching music.
“This is my life,” Ebert said. “This weekend is my whole life on display, from a career standpoint.”
With Ebert wrapping up his career and the alumni band coming in honor of the band’s 100-year anniversary, he hopes Saturday’s concert acts as a passing of the torch.
“I hope there’s another 50, 100, years of jazz band,” Ebert said. “There’s lots of legends here and lots of longevity with directors here. People don’t come and use this place as a stepping stone. They stay, and it’s part of the tradition of what makes Ashland music so strong.”
Working hard
The students in the band said some of this year’s pieces for Maplerock Jazz Festival have been challenging.
Andrew Aber, another senior in the jazz band, said he’s “never seen the band work so hard on one song” as it has on “La Fiesta.” The piece, composed by Chick Corea and arranged by Tony Klatka, sounds celebratory.
But Aber said putting it together was a struggle at first.
He and Selan agreed: the band didn’t sound good. They didn’t think they’d make it to the concert with the song.
But, Aber said, everyone put time into practicing it, and practice makes perfect — or, at least, close to it.
It’s that hard work, combined with the alumni band’s performance, that make up the reasons for people to attend the concert, in Aber’s view.
‘The best band I’ve ever played in’
For alumni like Dave Archer, the return to Ashland High School is marked by an opportunity to revisit old memories and lifelong friendships.
Archer, a 1980 Ashland High grad, was the second chair trumpet player when he graduated. His friend Kevin Kiplinger — also featured in the Distinguished Alumni Jazz Band — was first chair.
Archer and Kiplinger have remained friends throughout high school, college and even into adulthood. When Archer took a break from playing his instrument, he said Kiplinger brought him back to it.
Archer said bringing alumni back to play for the band’s 100th anniversary has offered alumni a great way to reconnect.
For Mary Longsdorf, a more recent grad, the return has offered a chance to revisit her roots. The class of 2018 alum is wrapping up her master’s degree at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, but Ashland High is where she got her start with jazz.
She decided to play in the jazz band her junior year, and described playing in the Distinguished Alumni Jazz Band as a full circle moment.
“I’m just very honored to have been asked,” Longsdorf said.
The school, Archer said, has consistently produced talented musicians who find success in the music industry professionally. Bringing so many of them back to play on Saturday, in Archer’s estimation, will be “quite a band.”
“It’ll probably be the best band I’ve played in my whole life,” Archer said. “There’s a lot of top alumni who have returned.”
Happy endings, new beginnings
Aber will soon join that list of alums. He said he knows a senior year of high school is special, no matter what. But for Aber, participating in the band’s 100-year anniversary has made his year extra special.
From marching band’s “Back to the Future” kickoff in August to performing Vaughn Wiester’s commissioned piece at the jazz band’s first concert of the year in November, Aber has enjoyed an exciting year for music in Ashland.
He looks forward to college, and having opportunities to play with people as dedicated to music as him. He plans on minoring in music next year.
But, he’s gleaned a lot from his time with Ashland High’s jazz band. This year especially, Aber said listening to alums play and having chances to network with them has helped him grow.
“When playing an instrument, having someone else listen who can tell you more about what you’re doing is really important,” Aber said. “… You can apply that to more than just music — not just to live through your own eyes.”
The Ashland High Jazz Band and the Ashland High School Distinguished Alumni Jazz Band will play in Archer Auditorium on March 16 at 7 p.m.
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