Jazz Band is a musical ensemble here at KHS that students have the opportunity to audition for. Jazz Band plays a variety of jazz songs at an advanced level.

“It’s [jazz band] one of the more contemporary ensembles; it [jazz band] has more opportunities for people,” senior Katelyn Blaszynski said.

If students make it into Jazz Band after auditioning, it is put as a class on their schedule for the next school year. When class begins, students take out their instruments and tune them individually to the correct pitch for the music before the Jazz Band director Aaron Puckett brings them back to tune as a whole.

Puckett then helps students play certain sections of a piece until he feels the section is perfected. Students come together as a whole and play a section of the song.

“The music he [Puckett] gives you, it’s not impossible but you do need to practice a lot,” sophomore Jordan Bridge said.

To gain a better understanding of the music, Puckett has students relate the song being practiced to another popular song. Once this is done and they discuss the songs, the whole band plays the song all the way through.

“When you go home and practice by yourself, you’re being able to play your instrument but it’s a totally different thing when you’re playing with other people…you start to pick up on things you can’t really teach people,” junior Matt Zoppa said.