Every Thursday night, the Embry-Riddle jazz band practices various songs and simply having fun playing our instruments! The music club on campus offers a jazz band, orchestra, choir, drumline and rock groups. My favorite instrument to play is the alto saxophone and I absolutely love to play it.

In practice, we play songs out of various books, including some great classics of Duke Ellington and Herbie Hancock. The group size varies every week, but we always have a drummer, saxophones, trumpets, a guitar, a bass, and even a tuba! It does not matter what instrument you play, we accept everyone who wants to play an instrument!

At the end of first semester, we played in a gig in downtown Prescott for Acker night which is a night of music in the courthouse area during the holiday season. This semester we are performing in a “Night of the Arts” here on campus. The jazz band will play a set of songs (TBA) but we are not the only ones performing. If musicians want, they can combine to make a jazz combo group, or even perform solo! In any case, the night is for having fun and playing on your favorite instrument!

After practice sometimes, there are a few of us who stick around for a random after-practice jam session! Some of switch instruments, like me, but we fool around and play music that isn’t in our books. Also, this time is where some learn a new instrument, or maybe play another’s to see what its like to play a bass, for example. If you have ever played an instrument, or want to learn, the music club, especially the jazz band, is the right club to join!