On November 4 the Tri Lakes Center for the Arts hosted an Evening of Jazz concert in partnership with the Lewis-Palmer School District, featuring the jazz bands of both Lewis-Palmer High School and Palmer Ridge High School. Lewis-Palmer’s performance was titled “The Breakfast Club” and Palmer Ridge’s performance was “Jazz on the Ridge.”

Despite the name of Lewis-Palmer High School’s performance, according to Kevin Whitelaw, the band director for Lewis-Palmer, it has nothing to do with the 80’s movie of the same title. He said that the performance was named “The Breakfast Club” because the band has kind of created their own breakfast club in the sense that they come to school so early each morning to practice, that they often eat breakfast in the band room.

The first piece of music the band played was Basie—Straight Ahead by Sammy Nestico. Unlike some Jazz pieces, this one had an upbeat rhythm. The next piece, Una Mas by Kenny Dorham, was not as upbeat, but it was still enjoyed by the audience.

“I liked Basie—Straight Ahead because it’s a classic,” Jack Icke, 11, said.

Next up was Fire & Brimstone by Ralph Gingery. Despite what one might think of as an unpleasant name, Fire & Brimstone almost sounded like a happy piece of music. The final piece was One Step Ahead by Mike Kamuf, which had the most upbeat tune of all and brought a smooth transition to the standing ovation that Lewis-Palmer High School’s performance received.

“We’ve done this for three or four years now every fall with Palmer Ridge,” Kevin Whitelaw, the band director said.

The next concert will be a winter concert in December.  The band will greatly appreciate students to tell their friends about their next performance.