Photo by Jon Anderson.
Nationally acclaimed jazz drummer, bandleader and music educator Steve Fidyk helps the Hoover HIgh School First Edition Jazz Band prepare for the Jazz at Lincoln Center’s 30th annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition and Festival on April 3.
Hoover High School is sending 24 members of its First Edition Jazz Band to New York City in May to compete in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s 30th annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition and Festival.
Sallie Vines White, the band’s director, has applied for the competition more than 20 times but had never been accepted — until now. Normally, only 15 bands are selected, but this year, in honor of the competition’s 30th anniversary, 30 bands were invited. A record 127 bands from around the world applied, and Hoover’s band made the top 30.
Steve Fidyk, an acclaimed jazz drummer, bandleader and music educator, visited the Hoover band in early April to help the students prepare.
Fidyk spent more than 21 years as the drummer and featured soloist with The U.S. Army Blues band at Arlington National Cemetery. He has appeared on more than 100 recordings and, since 2015, has been a member of the Jazz Orchestra of Philadelphia. He also performs with the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra in Washington, D.C., and serves on the jazz studies faculty at Temple University and the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.
During his visit, Fidyk worked with the band on three songs it will perform in New York: “Concerto for Cootie,” “Symphony in Riffs” and “Thanks for the Beautiful Land on the Delta.”
“It’s astounding how these kids are preserving the legacy of Duke Ellington’s music,” Fidyk said. “It’s really, really incredible. … It just shows the amount of dedication that these kids have, and it speaks volumes to the instruction they’re getting from their band director and how the kids are taking that information and running with it.”
Hoover’s band has been working on the music since November, Fidyk said.
“They’ve learned the notes on paper. Now it’s just trying to put more feeling and dynamic contrast and swing into the overall product,” he said.
Fidyk said his ultimate goal was to inspire the students to continue growing musically — not only with this particular music, but throughout their lives. “It’s a lifelong study,” he said.
Ellington’s band was full of incredible soloists, and Fidyk said one of the things that stood out about the Hoover band was the number of soloists it has. “That brings so much character and personality to the music they’re doing,” he said.
Aubrey Snow, a freshman bassist in the First Edition Jazz Band, said everyone has put in a lot of hard work and that getting a visit from Fidyk was a huge opportunity.
“It’s just so rewarding to get to play and learn from these good people,” she said. “We’re learning and having fun. It’s great.”
Levi Hansen, a senior trumpet player, said Fidyk gave the band valuable feedback. The group also got a visit in December from Todd Stoll, vice president of education at Jazz at Lincoln Center.
“It really helps us to have a different person come in because it brings a fresh perspective,” Hansen said.
