A noted success

Allentown High School jazz band members honored at Boston festival.

By: Cynthia Koons
   ALLENTOWN — Improvisation is all about vision.
   With an emphasis on the rhythm.
   These two complementary aspects of modern jazz, impromptu solos and supporting percussion, won Allentown High School students Liam Jaeger and Dan Romans outstanding soloist and drumming awards on Jan. 18.
   It was in Boston at the Berklee College of Music’s international high school jazz festival that these young Allentown musicians were recognized with the high school’s 29-member jazz band.
   In the two events the band entered, director Peter Mauro said his group placed fifth out of 35 high schools in one and ninth out of 19 competitors in the other.
   "What was an East Coast jazz festival about 35 years ago is now an international festival," Mr. Mauro said of the competition, which hosted bands from as far as Ecuador, California and New Zealand. "Jazz is America’s art contribution and now it has really received worldwide recognition.
   "I was very happy that the school placed fifth out of 35 (high schools), we were the highest ranking high school band from New Jersey," he said. "This was the first time this particular group of kids (competed) and they really fared very, very well."
   Mr. Mauro said it was Allentown High School’s seventh trip to the Berklee jazz competition.
   "What’s interesting about our little band from Allentown High School is we have had quite an array of successes," he said. "Back in 1997 we performed at the New Jersey school administrators’ convention . . . We received a standing ovation, and Roger Mudd, who hosts the History Channel, praised the band as being one of the most exciting he’s heard."
   At Berklee, Mr. Mauro said the compliment that resonated with him most wasn’t from a famous participant or critical judge — it came from a 10-year-old boy.
   "He happened into the first performance at 10 o’clock and said he insisted on coming in to hear what the band sounded like in the afternoon," he said. "He came up (with his father) and said to us that we were the best band of the day and he’d heard many bands from around the country.
   "The AHS band has always touched the people," Mr. Mauro said. "Even though we’re still striving for perfect technique, they definitely had a connection to the people," Mr. Mauro said.
   One of the honored high school musicians, Liam Jaeger, struck the judges almost instantaneously with his improvisation on the tenor saxophone.
   "He was given a trophy right on the spot when he performed," Mr. Mauro said.
   Improvisation, the unstructured instrumental solos that make jazz unique, is something Mr. Mauro teaches through helping his students envision the music.
   For the song "Penny Arcade," a technically difficult piece Liam Jaeger soloed in, Mr. Mauro said the tune reflected the story of a child playing in an arcade with only one coin to his name.
   "What you’re going to do is you’re going to portray an image in their mind of a kid coming into this great penny arcade and he puts a quarter in and the whole big thing is to stay alive on the quarter as much as possible because Dad only gave him one quarter," Mr. Mauro said. "And now the soloist is trying to get the rhythm. What the soloist will do is take a theme from the main melody and develop it.
   "And he’s developing instantaneously so his mind has to be right on it," he said. "To be recognized as a sophomore tenor sax player with these performers from all over the country — it’s quite an honor."
   Liam Jaeger said he was happy with the recognition, seeing as most of the previous winners were juniors and seniors.
   "It was our first performance, we did three songs and I improved in all three of them," he said. "Once you get the hang of it, you don’t think of it as a challenge. You think of it as expressing yourself — it just flows."
   He said he grew up with jazz and that he picked up the tenor sax in fifth grade. Influentially speaking, he said, Charlie Parker is one of the saxophone players that inspires him. In terms of genre, he’s a classic rock fan the rest of the time.
   "I’m actually influenced by a lot of old classic rock, it actually seems more real to me, like Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin.
   "All the songs in jazz band are the style that I like," he said. "And that’s why I pursue it. Like a fusion between jazz and rock."
   Junior drummer Dan Romans, who was also given an outstanding performance nod for the morning performance, said he was recognized for his supporting percussion.
   "There was a big percussion solo with the drum set, congas . . . on ‘Norwegian Wood’ which was totally improvised," he said. "In other songs I just backed up the band."
   Mr. Mauro said Dan Romans was recognized "not only as a soloist, but for keeping the band together in time — he was just phenomenal."
   "I actually thought I could have done a lot better because there’s always room to improve," Dan Romans said.
   While Mr. Mauro had nothing but pride for his band members and their performances, the players seem focused on how they are growing and where they are going from here.
   "I’m looking forward to going back," Liam Jaeger said. "There’s always room to improve in everything and I’d like to see how much I can improve in a year’s span."