All That Jazz

The other night I went to hear a jazz group.  A Seattle based community jazz band called the Mood Swings teamed up with a group of sixth graders over there.  They had practiced separately and came together for an end of the school year performance.  It was the brainstorm of a delightful young woman who is a public school music teacher and who also plays for the Mood Swings.  What a great idea. The kids got to play with a group of musicians including many who were professionally trained, and saw a community group like this as a definite possibility for continuing music in their own futures.  The adult musicians were a true inspiration and loved playing with the kids.  The two groups collaborated on Benny Goodman’s “Sing, Sing, Sing” and three days later, I’m still humming that tune.  And smiling.