If you want an argument for keeping music in schools, then look no further than the
School of Creative and Performing Arts.
CLIP Band playing
The school's music program includes a jazz class and after school program.
This provided the perfect environment for 5 students and 1 alumnus to form Jazz Avenue
at the end of last year so they could compete in School JamUSA.
Out of more than a hundred bands to qualify nationally, they placed first and were crowned
Best Teen Band in the USA, says keyboardist Harim Garza.
HARIM GARZA: We got $5000 for the school, a thousand dollars for ourselves, and a trip
to Germany, which we're leaving when guys?
ALL: Tomorrow.
Yeah Germany!
That was two weeks ago.
The boys returned to school on Tuesday says music teacher Tamara Paige.
She runs the jazz program at SCPA and accompanied the band on the trip.
TAMARA PAIGE: It was magical.
It was like being at the Grammies.
I'm sure the Grammies are much bigger but for us it was that big of a moment.
It was huge.
Sax player John Avery confesses he was a little nervous.
JOHN AVERY: Because I had to announce the group and announce the songs.
And I didn't know what was going to go on when I gave a big shout out to the beautiful
German women that lived there with our newest Latin song.
Really new says bass player Marc Encabo.
MARC ENCABO: We just finished writing that song that week so that was our first time
actually performing it as a whole.
CLIP Tamarindo number
MARC ENCABO: I mean it was definitely kind of intimidating because we didn't get to practice
before.
I mean we had the 3 days before we performed so like going into it, it was like, aw, do
I even remember how to play it?
But at least they were not competing says drummer Tyler Kreutel.
TYLER KREUTEL: It was in a country we had never been in before so we didn't know how
they were going to react but since we kind of already won we weren't super worried about
what the judges thought because we weren't competing any more we were just opening up
for other groups going to compete so we weren't nearly as nervous this time around.
HARIM GARZA: I mean it was hard at first because when we play together, when Jazz Avenue plays
together, we're used to playing on smaller stages to communicate better.
But this stage I mean I was on one side of the stage and my bass player was on the opposite
side.
That suited guitarist Josh Vasquez just fine.
JOSH VASQUEZ: I was like running around I was jumping I was sliding on my knees I could
do everything So the extra space really helped the energy a lot and really lent to the performance.
CHAZ CABRERA: It was like WWE.
Cause you got those huge TVs and then like you see your face on it and it's like, "Whoa
I got that many pimples."
Chaz Cabrera is the only alumnus.
He plays alto sax.
Vasquez says they may have been playing jazz but they felt like rock stars.
JOSH VASQUEZ: Because of the crowd of people there was a gate with security so it felt
like an actual rock concert.
It was something I've never experienced before but I hope I get to experience again.
CLIP Music
JOSH VASQUEZ: It felt good knowing that we come from America and jazz comes from America
so we brought jazz over there and showed our stuff.
HARIM: During the sound check one German dude from another band got up and came to us and
was like how old are you guys?
17-18.
You guys are amazing, you know and even one of the guest bands , from Germany, professional
already, mentioned us in their set while they were performing.
CHAZ: They mentioned our names they said in German Jazz Avenue was brilliant, and we were
like what?
What did they say?
The boys also got to be tourists during their stay in Germany.
HARIM GARZA: [showing his t-shirt] It's like an iPhone, it's Germany and it shows the different
little places, there's that was my favorite place.
JOHN AVERY: We also went to Bonn to visit Beethoven's home
JOSH VASQUEZ: This is his house, he walked around here as a kid I'm probably stepping
on the same floor he was stepping on.
And I was looking at all the artifacts they had, they had all his hearing aids he used,
and they had the viola he played with some orchestra, but they had the original viola
he played and I was sitting there thinking, man his fingerprints are probably still on
that thing.
JOHN AVERY: We learned a lot about him about his piano and his pianos and the ivory keys
you could tell that he played it so hard that there were little grooves in the keys
MARC ENCABO: It definitely opened my mind up that there's more in the world than just
where we grew up.
It also opened their eyes to possibilities for Jazz Avenue.
TAMARA PAIGE: I was talking to one of the band members after the performance and everyone
was just on this natural high after that and I said now you are going out to create more
experiences like this for yourself because as big as this was it's only the beginning.
for them.
Jazz Avenue also was asked to go on tour in Germany in September says Avery.
JOHN AVERY: I don't know how many teenagers get asked to go on tour everyday but I know
that that's the first time I've ever been asked.
Just thinking about it makes me really, really wish I could go back.