By Jake Glass
It all started in middle school. My band teacher would stay late after school every week to help us practice our jazz combo. A jazz combo is a small group of 3-10 instrumentalists that performs music that places more emphasis on improvisation and individual skill. We weren’t very good, struggling to solo on many basic songs, and we seldom made it through songs without some major hiccup occurring. But it was such an enjoyable experience.
When I was reunited with my middle school friends in high school jazz band, the first thing we talked about was creating our own jazz combo. And that’s how it all started. A couple times a week we would coalesce in the band room after school and just play. The big difference was we had no band director telling us what songs to play, how fast to play songs, or even to stay on task. And very quickly the idea of the jazz combo that I fell in love with presented an immense challenge — we had to lead.
We never officially agreed on who was in charge, but me and another friend ended up leading most of the practices and making most of the decisions regarding what we would do in combo. It was honestly a lot more work than I was expecting; I felt like every week there was a new fire to put out, whether it be someone forgetting their instrument at home, or someone losing their music, or one band member who was making incredibly inappropriate jokes that made one girl in our group incredibly upset (for good reason). And that doesn’t even scratch the surface of the music itself: What songs do we play? What tempo should we choose? Who should solo and when? To compound to the difficulty of leading, there were almost a dozen members, so wrangling ten people to the same room multiple times a week seemed impossible at times. And even when we got there, keeping ten 14-16 year-olds on track for more than a few minutes seemed nearly impossible. We ended up dissolving towards the end of the school year as the big gig we had lined up (a wedding) wasn’t offering enough payment to convince everyone to want to practice.
Sophomore year was a much smoother ride. I built a new smaller group of my close friends and set a more realistic goal: to get a Superior at Solo and Ensemble (a yearly event when musicians perform for judges and receive a ranking). Things went well and I made an effort to be the most accommodating leader possible. I made sure to find a practice time that was convenient for everyone and I even let everyone decide what song we were doing. It honestly felt like the best of both worlds compared to last year: we had a tighter friendship and we also were more productive when it came to practice. And at the end of the day, we ended up getting the Superior rating we aimed for.
Combo in senior year was probably the most intense but also the most rewarding for my growth as a leader. I had to coordinate practices that fit five peoples’ very busy schedules (I was not one of these busy people but that’s beside the point). When people couldn’t make it, I would try my best to fill in their instrument (I can play bass and piano) and specifically pick songs where we didn’t need whoever was missing. This group was even closer than the last, and it definitely took some energy to keep us on track, as the desire to go make copious amounts of ramen or watch Netflix was sometimes more appealing than practicing our songs. But it was honestly a highlight of my senior year, even when I had to painstakingly teach other members music theory or coordinate gigs with people who took a little bit too long to text back. It was so rewarding to watch some of my friends grow as musicians, becoming more confident and creative while soloing. Not to mention we were playing gigs and usually getting paid to do so. While there were definitely moments that pushed me to my limits and stressed me out, senior year combo was such an amazing experience as a leader, a musician, and a friend.
I feel incredibly lucky that in 7th grade my band teacher introduced me to combo, as this opened the doors to years of unique experiences that high school wouldn’t have provided me otherwise. And while certain challenges stressed me out, in the long run, it helped me become a much better leader: whether it be conflict resolution, or communication, or even just knowing when you have to take a break.