Welcome to the club: The NH Jazz Orchestra recreates the big band experience

When you go

Welcome to the Club at the Rex Theatre

June 28, 7:30 p.m.

I was recently invited to attend an early rehearsal of the NH Jazz Orchestra’s show Welcome to the Club, which took place at Manchester Community Music School, where I take ukulele lessons.

The orchestra is led by Clayton Poole, known as Skip, and his son CJ Poole, the assistant conductor. Skip has over forty years of experience working with big bands. He has worked with Cab Calloway, Maynard Ferguson, Rosemary Clooney and many others. CJ is the singer of this group, but also the bassist. He brings the component of a younger person who can inspire the next generation of musicians and jazz musicians.

Before the orchestra played as a group, many different musicians practiced chords or their parts of a song. In the left corner, a trumpet was practicing and the pianist was practicing chords. Skip constantly looked at his watch, letting people know how much time was left until they would practice as a group. When it was time to practice together, people sipped their water, turned to the correct page in their sheet music, and waited patiently for Skip to begin conducting them.

I’ve only ever performed in solo concerts, so it was very interesting to see what it’s like to have a whole group of instruments playing together at the same time, all while trying to stay in sync. Skip Poole conducts the orchestra brilliantly because he is so precise. He stopped at any moment when he felt something didn’t sound right to fix even the smallest problem.

He gave everyone clear instructions, telling specific instruments when to start playing and giving them cues. For example, “the cymbals make ‘noise’ and then the rest go ‘da da da da'”. Everyone took notes and followed his instructions exactly.

People should go to this concert because so much work went into perfecting the sound and the music and singing is so smooth. Skip worked extremely hard to perfect this concert and stopped whenever he wasn’t happy with the sound. He makes sure everyone is in tune with each other.

With over forty years of experience performing jazz bands, this orchestra is guaranteed to be in good hands and will not disappoint. For anyone who enjoys jazz, bands or live performances in general, this concert is the one for you.

One of the songs starts with a light piano melody and then CJ starts singing, after which the rest of the orchestra plays behind him so as not to drown out his singing. This is one of the things that Skip has perfected and worked hard on, as have all the other musicians. The different instruments blend together and make the performance smooth and dreamy. Each of their songs feels smooth and dreamy and gives the audience a sense of calm. When CJ’s singing ends, the orchestra can play louder because they don’t have to stand behind the singer. They become the main attraction and dominate the show.

I noticed how the orchestra members worked together. If one made a mistake, some of the other instruments would make mistakes too because they were working together and trying to stay in sync. I think the main thing they were trying to do was stay in sync, make sure the song flowed well, and work together to make sure all of that happened.

I learned that a lot happens before rehearsal starts, and many different instruments play many different things at the same time. I also learned that instruments depend on instruments, meaning that at the beginning of the song, when instruments start playing, their cues are what another instrument is doing before it’s their turn to play.

I also learned that the music has to be behind the singer, otherwise the singer will be drowned out and that can be difficult sometimes because every instrument has to be heard but not too loud.

I interviewed a member of the Hillside Orchestra and he gave me three reasons why one should join a music department:

1. Participating in an activity such as a music program can help you make friends and spend time with people who share the same interests as you.
2. You can develop and challenge your brain. Playing an instrument has been found to be very beneficial for your brain and students who play an instrument perform better in school
3. You can attend concerts that will help you perform in front of people and develop teamwork skills

I also interviewed a member of Hillside’s band and they gave me four reasons why one should join a music department:

1. You will become part of a close-knit community that will always have your back.
2. It offers many fun and unique experiences that you would otherwise miss.
3. You will have the opportunity to meet and make friends with many other people that you would not otherwise have met in your own or other classes.
4. Experience in music is likely to help you gain admission to college, and people with a musical background tend to be more successful in school.

Finally, if you don’t play an instrument yet, I’d like to give you three reasons why I think you shouldn’t play an instrument yet:

1. It’s fun to learn an instrument and create cool sounds with it, especially when you can play songs you’ve heard before or love.
2. It challenges your brain because you have to think about where to place your fingers, how long to play each note, while trying to make the whole song flow nicely
3. Performing can be difficult at first, but eventually it becomes a fun way to show the people you love and people you don’t even know the songs you’ve learned and the things you’ve learned

In the end, I am so glad that I did the rehearsal for “Welcome to the Club” show by the NH Jazz Orchestraand I think you should check it out! After all, the party is not over yet, my friend!

Story by Talia Harmon, a student employee at the incubator.

The Incubator program aims to nurture and grow the local journalism ecosystem in New Hampshire – providing support for educators, opportunities for students, and possibilities for future journalists, artists, and creatives. And more than that, we want to involve our community in this process because together we succeed. Click here to make a tax-deductible donation to the Incubator.