Out-of-Door had an unexpected music history lesson at Ovation on Wednesday from a jazz band with roots from New Orleans a well as our hometown of Sarasota. The show began with a history of the slaves working on southern plantations in the 1860s. The story then moved West, where the speaker said, “jazz was born from ragtime.”

The first song the band played was Louis Armstrong’s “When the Saints Go Marching In,” a popular song from New Orleans in the 1930s. The upbeat song and familiar swing, had everyone in the Black Box singing and clapping to beat. Although the song was already heard by many, the band gave a different vibe. They spoke of typical jazz bands playing in the streets just to have a good time; ODA certainly saw this in their interpretation. The pianist/singer, bassist, saxophonist, and trumpeter all gave solos and brought character to the performance. For example, the trumpet player used a top hat and a plastic cup as “tricks” to change the sound of his trumpet.

Maria Massaro ’14 said, “I thought it was great and soulful and I had a great time clapping my hands.”

Unforeseen jazz enthusiast, Amanda Durfee said, “I enjoyed it. It was my genre.”

After the Ovation, during G Block, Mr. Miller’s students met with the band to have a workshop. The jazz band worked with the students’ technique and reviewed their songs for Jazz Night, which takes place at the Upper School on April 9th.

“It was a very helpful experience and it challenged players beyond their limits,” revealed RJ Jansen ’14 a senior trumpet player.

In all, the band’s rendition had everyone appreciating the world of jazz, even Mr. Naylor, who enjoyed the performance most of all, noted Julia Bellenger ’14. While enjoying their old school rhythm and blues, we traveled back in time to the 1800s and made our way to the 21st century. It was the perfect combination of music and history, as well as an ideal Ovation for Out-of-Door.