It was a delight to join the Smith-Cotton High School Jazz Band this past week for a performance with them and the beginning band students. Hearing the band play 3 of my tunes was a lot of fun. They worked hard and it showed — they could really swing!

The three pieces we performed were composed over nearly a 20 year span. The first piece, written when I was youngest, was definitely the hardest. Isn’t it funny that as we age, we approach a certain level of simplicity and desire to NOT include everything but the kitchen sink? At least that’s the case for me.

The end result of this performance for me is that I’ll keep writing tunes for high school bands to play, even if I have to force the compositions into a busy schedule of teaching. It’s worth it to hear a group of high school kids blazing on a chart I’ve written, and Smith-Cotton Jazz Band did just that!