Lethbridge Jazz Festival opens Friday with high school musicians

Each year, the Lethbridge Jazz and Blues Festival opens with a spotlight on young, local talent.

This year is no different, and the Chinook High School jazz band and jazz combo are excited to show off their stuff.

“It’s special because it gives us a chance to perform on a bigger stage than we’re used to,” drummer Laszlo Babits said.

“It’s a really fun atmosphere. People coming out to enjoy jazz music in Lethbridge is a really special experience because we don’t see that a lot.”

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One of the festival’s original organizers, Don Robb of the Lethbridge Jazz Society, says that the Young Lions Concert has always been a highlight of the festival.

“It’s a big thrill,” Robb said. “That is a cornerstone of our festival. Since day one, when we had our very first meeting to set up our society we said that we have to include the youth, we have to include the educational component.”

“We have about ten or a dozen junior high and high school bands performing, and it’s a really exciting event over at the Gate all Friday afternoon.”

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With the school year wrapping up, Chinook High School music teacher Scott Davidson says it’s always a fun way to end the year.

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“Jazz festival is always a great kind of ender to jazz for the year,” Davidson said. “For me as a director, it’s always great to be involved with anything to do with jazz, because it’s always a very vibrant experience.”

For many of Davidson’s students, this isn’t their first time performing in the festival. Amanda Rood, a grade 12 student, has a good idea of what to expect after previous experiences at the Festival.

“I feel pretty good about it,” Rood said. “Some of the pieces that we’re playing we’ve played for a while, they’re old favourites of the band. And then some of the pieces are a little bit newer, but I still feel pretty confident about them.”

“We know what we’re doing, and it should be fun.”

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Babits is also excited for another crack at the festival stage.

“It’s a big deal. We played last year and we did a good job,” Babits said. “This year we’re playing a little bit more – with our combo, specifically – last year we played a lot with the jazz band, but this year we’re going to be more with the combo and it should be good; they give us a big set at the end.”

The Young Lions are followed on Friday by Kaley Kinjo & The Hypocrites in the City Hall Foyer at 7 p.m.

Saturday is highlighted by the Jazz at the Park show.

“Our big, big, big event is our Jazz at the Park at Galt Gardens, on Saturday afternoon, starting at noon,” Robb. said.

“We have four terrific bands, all of them will be playing for their very first time in Lethbridge – really excited about that – and then we have an open-air market, we have various food vendors, a beer garden, just lots of stuff for everybody on Saturday.”

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The event runs from June 7-15, and the full festival lineup can be found at lethbridgejazz.com.