EDMONDS — How do these kids get up at o-dark-thirty on rainy mornings and then go to school to make music that sounds like a sunny day in the park?
The Edmonds-Woodway High School jazz band members love what they do, that’s how, even when some have slept only 5 or 6 hours.
And lately, they’ve been on a mission to perfect the tunes they’ll perform for the 21st annual Hot Java Cool Jazz concert at 7 tonight at the Paramount in Seattle.
“It’s not the music that gets in my way,” said drummer Cedar Lange, a 17-year-old junior. “I go to bed late because of all the homework. I am at school shortly after 6 a.m. not because I have to, but because I get to. I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t enjoy it. Besides, sometimes I play my best at 6:30 in the morning.”
Also on stage tonight will be the top jazz bands from Mountlake Terrace, Garfield, Roosevelt and Mount Si high schools.
Sponsored by Starbucks, the annual concert is a way for the students to raise money for their bands. All proceeds from tickets sales ($22 each) go to the schools, which have all made appearances over the years and had a dominating presence at the nationally renowned Essentially Ellington jazz festival at Lincoln Center in New York City.
EWHS senior trombonist Elizabeth Abel, 17, performed at the Starbucks fundraiser in 2015.
“It was an intense experience,” she said. “We all want to sound our best. I would never let myself play a wrong note on the stage of the Paramount.”
Elizabeth gets up at 5 a.m. to make it to school in time for rehearsal. Focused on college plans, she is taking International Baccalaureate courses as well.
“I hope admissions people will see that I was in band all four years of high school and that I don’t give up,” she said. “When I moved here, I didn’t know about the jazz scene. It’s great to be part of it, and I will always play trombone.”
Many EWHS students are friends with the players in the other bands featured in tonight’s concert.
“Some people play together in bands outside of school,” Cedar said. “I am excited to share our work with the other schools.”
Elizabeth and Cedar and the rest of the band know they owe their teacher Jake Bergevin for their place on the Hot Java Cool Jazz program. Outside of his teaching job, Bergevin is well known in the region for his trumpet and vocal jazz prowess.
“We know Jake better than our other teachers. He is the one who is always there for us,” Elizabeth said. “He gives us just the right amount of praise and criticism.”
Cedar agreed.
“Jake Bergevin focuses on the gig. The musicians who have created the jazz scene in the Seattle also are teachers,” said Cedar, who wants to study music in college. “The music program here is a big part of our lives, and there is a lot of pride in that.”
Jazz in the Northwest is great because good people have made good school programs, Bergevin said.
“The fathers of the art form in the Northwest spread the disease,” he said. “And we all got it.”
Bergevin had praise for the other teachers leading bands tonight: Darin Faul of Mountlake Terrace, Matt Wenman at Mount Si, Scott Brown of Roosevelt and Clarence Acox from Garfield.
“Note that these are all public schools with equal opportunity programs for regular kids of all backgrounds,” Bergevin said.
“For most of the kids, band is the reason they are in school. It’s all about our community, our culture and our people.”
He also praised Starbucks for its support of “this great American art form.” Edmonds-Woodway stands to bring home somewhere around $10,000 for the band program, Bergevin said.
“The Hot Java Cool Jazz concert is the coolest thing we do all year. We get to play on an epic, historic stage with professional lighting and sound.”
In the their school band room on a recent dark morning, the jazz ensemble rehearsed sitting in a circle, surrounded by marching band gear and the symphonic band’s tympani. On the walls are pictures of jazz greats and photos from Edmonds-Woodway’s visits to the Essentially Ellington festival.
“My students are amazing, they are committed and serious about what they are doing,” Bergevin said. “It’s awesome to see the passion, which will translate to whatever line of work they chose to do as adults.”
Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com.
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