Cypress High School, home to a variety of extracurriculars, features Jazz Band, a group of students who meet up to make jazz music.

The band meets in the quad on every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to practice, so you might hear their music playing after school. They also play at local jazz festivals and are soon planning to play in the quad during lunch. They encourage students to join, and no prior experience is necessary.

According to jazz band’s president Evan Trostler (11), Cypress’s jazz band has existed ever since the school’s music program was created. At that time, jazz bands were still very popular. The jazz band is both a club and a class since it was a weekly club in the first semester, and now takes up a 7th period in second semester.

Traditionally, the position of jazz band president is given to the 1st, or principal, trumpet player in the band and is then passed down as those students graduate. Trostler is the first ever Junior to be given the position of 1st trumpet and president.

Trostler’s goal for the jazz band is to provide students with an environment to develop both as musicians and as individuals. “Something that makes jazz really special is the amount of creativity and expression that you can’t get in many other places,” Trostler said. “I enjoy giving others that opportunity.” He shared that everyone in the group is very enthusiastic about making jazz and knows when it’s time to get serious, so organizing the band isn’t as hard as it seems.

Lynne Vargeson (9) plays the trumpet in the jazz band. She expressed her amazement that such a small group is part of such a big sound. Something challenging for her is keeping up with the rest of the members.. “It’s hard to catch up with everyone because they’re so far ahead,” she said.

Despite being a small group of people, Jazz Band can really pack a big sound. We can hope to see more greatness from them as the year progresses.