The Mainsheet

At 7 a.m. on a school day, most students are brushing their teeth, scouring closets for a killer outfit, and shoving crumpled papers into bags at random. The most ambitious (or unhygienic) might remain in bed until 7:50.

But as students trudge to their first class, Chadwick’s Jazz Band wraps up an hourlong rehearsal. Feel good about your sweats and half-finished homework now?

Jokes aside, the Jazz Band is one of the oldest–and least known–groups on campus.

In general, Chadwick’s vocal and instrumental music programs
remain relatively underground. The latter branch includes the Village, Middle and Upper School orchestras, as well as the Chamber Music Program.

When current Director of Orchestras Richard Babcock arrived in 1987, Chadwick didn’t have an orchestra. Students performed classical repertoire in trios, quartets and smaller ensembles through the Chamber Music Program. Babcock established the Jazz Band in the early 1990s, and the larger orchestral music program at parent request.

After 40 years and a pandemic, Jazz Band is the only ensemble left in the chamber system. Babcock and the four student members–cellists Ryan Chen (12th) and Evan Stoddard (8th) and violinists Sean Chen (8th) and Jayson Park (7th)–meet bright and early every Tuesday and Thursday in Instrumental Music Studio.

Jazz emerged in the American South during the late 1800s when enslaved African Americans combined African and Caribbean music with episcopal hymns in impromptu, call-and-response riffs. The genre, defined by its improvisational nature, further developed among New Orleans’ ethnically diverse population. Throughout the early 1900s, jazz spread from the fields to clubs, up the Mississippi River and around the country.

“It’s very American,” explained Babcock, who earned a bachelor of music degree in jazz at the University of Utah. “America being the melting pot that it is, jazz has all these genres mixed together. We’re pretty young in terms of a country, and that came from us.”

Despite the title, the Jazz Band plays more than just jazz. It also includes more than winds. In years past, the band has included up to 20 guitarists, keyboardists,
drummers, and wind and electric instrument players learning rock, school songs, and more.

Rehearsal serves not only as time to study music at 7 a.m., but
also to prepare for performances. The Jazz Band opens at the Winter
and Spring Upper School orchestra concerts, and serves as Chadwick’s
catch-all performers.

“It’s designed to be a bit of a chameleon,” Babcock said. “It’s a jazz band, but it’s also a pep band. That was our big thing in the beginning.”

As a pep band, the group used to perform at Chadwick’s home varsity basketball and football games. This tradition waned over the years, but until COVID, the Jazz Band always played at the Homecoming football game. More recently, the group braved pouring rain to play at the Upper School Open Studios art show.

Babcock hopes to return to Commander Field next fall, but one performance has remained constant: a surprise holiday concert in Roessler before Winter Break.

“I’ve been doing that for years. I buy a box of doughnuts and sort of leak it out. We play at 7 o’clock in the morning, and we don’t stop until 7:55,” Babcock said.

Besides the free breakfast treats, Babcock mentioned probably the most enticing perk of joining Jazz Band: “The traffic situation at 7 o’clock … pretty cool.”