Forest Arts Music Hub

Jazz Combo Year Review 21/22

Six live performances kept the WMEHS Jazz Combo very busy throughout the academic year 21/22! Having previously only been a ‘split-screen’ lockdown recording ensemble, it was very exciting in 21/22 to finally get the Jazz Combo rehearsing and performing in person.  

Featuring some of the finest young jazz musicians involved with the WMEHS, and led by music educator and jazz musician Nick Dewhurst, the Jazz Combo showcases students playing Trumpet, Alto Sax, Tenor Sax, Trombone, and Drums, with Nick Dewhurst playing Bass Guitar, and local jazz musicians including Tim Amann and Tom Morgan assisting on Piano and Guitar.  

With only limited rehearsal opportunity, the young musicians spent the year learning a selection of jazz standards and original compositions, which provided them with an opportunity to develop their small group ensemble playing, improvisation, and compositional skills too. 

The Jazz Combo also provided an excellent opportunity for the WMEHS to develop its own partnerships, and this included developing links with a number of musical venues and institutions within the local region.  

The first performance for the new Jazz Combo was at the New Art Gallery in Walsall, where the band provided background jazz and entertainment services to the delegates of the annual ‘Christmas Tea Party’, hosted by the Walsall Cultural Education Partnership.  Playing in the main forum of the New Art Gallery, the Combo performed it’s new repertoire for the first time, but mixed in with some Christmas tunes too!  For many of the students, this was their first live performance since the Covid Lockdowns - so it was a really important moment in getting the young musicians doing live performances again.   

 After Christmas, the Jazz Combo headed to the University of Wolverhampton, for the first of two events run in partnership with the University.  The first event was a jam session, held in the main foyer of the Performance Hub.  This was an opportunity for the WMEHS students to have a jam session with students from the University, and it also gave an opportunity to re-introduce some of the members of the jazz combo that had been involved with the project during lockdown.  It was a great occasion for the students and staff of both organisations to enjoy some live music, and network too!

The jam session was also the ‘ice-breaker’ event ahead of the  one of the Jazz Combos main objectives for 21/22, which was to put on a joint performance with students from the University.  This performance then took place in March 2022, in the Black Box Theatre at the Performance Hub Campus of the University in Walsall.  The evening was a great success, and featured pieces performed by the Combo, plus pieces performed by the small jazz ensemble at the University, plus solo pieces, as well as joint items which featured all the musicians involved in the evening.  Again, the event allowed for more networking, which saw WMEHS students then go on to be involved with projects led by the University students (including taking part in a masters performance), as well as being invited to be involved with compositional courses in the future.  In addition to this, the WMEHS students were given a tour of the University’s music department facilities, including seeing the recording studios, practice rooms, and some of the musical equipment that was on offer for students to use whilst studying there.  

Later on in March, the Jazz Combo performed in the Spring Music Centre concerts.  This was the first time the Combo had been involved in a Music Centre concert, and was  great occasion to show the other music centre students, parents, and staff, what the Jazz Combo had been busy up to, as up to this point, all the performances had been external events.  The Combo was very well received, and certainly helped to inspire students that attended the weekly Jazz Improvisation Class, as well as students in the other jazz groups, such as Jazz at 6.  

As many of the students involved in the Jazz Combo then had exams, there was a small break, before returning for two gigs at the end of the year.  These were again both external events, and were terrific events for the Combo to fly the WMEHS banner!

The first of these events was held at  the Table Cafe in Walsall, which as well as being a cafe, hosts regular monthly jazz nights.  The Combo was delighted to have been invited to play for a gig at the end of June, and the students enjoyed a great evening, performing two sets of music to a very appreciative audience.  One of the highlights of the night was a premiere performance of one of the students own compositions, a piece called ‘Deux per Un’.  This was a really special moment, and very much something that he’ll remember for a long time!  The Combo is delighted to say that it will be returning to the Table Cafe in Walsall for another performance in June 2023!  

To cap off the year for the Jazz Combo, the students played a really fabulous gig on the Youth ‘Momentum’ Stage at the Fuse Festival in Lichfield.  It was great to take the Combo outside of Walsall and really give the students that ‘on-the-road’ feeling.  The Fuse festival is a unique and simply brilliant festival in Lichfield, hosted by Lichfield Arts, and it was another great partnership to set up between WMEHS and Lichfield Arts.  

The Jazz Combo had a 30 minute set on the stage, and played all of its best tunes from the year, to probably the largest and most appreciative audience yet! Once again, original compositions written by members of the band were played, alongside a selection of funky jazz standards.  

So, for the first year out of lockdown with the Jazz Combo, it was a fantastic year that featured some excellent performance opportunities, and really provided a springboard for the young musicians to develop not only their ensemble playing skills, but their improvisation skills too. 

Looking ahead to the new academic year, and the Jazz Combo are excited to once again be returning to the Table Cafe, plus also looking forward to performances at the Blues and Jazz Festival in Lichfield, as well as starting a new partnership with the Midland Youth Jazz Orchestra, with plenty of other performances and opportunities that will occur throughout the year too!