Check out last year’s performance from the Swing Sonatas in the embedded video below.
In anticipation of this year’s talent show, which will take place from the February 22-24, I sat down with junior Katie Pierce to discuss her up-and-coming jazz band, the Swing Sonatas. From the trumpet to the vibraphone, and from volunteer gigs to the Lake Bluff Parade, this group of five LFHS musicians have been playing around town and are now ready to take their music to the talent show.
“It’ll be two years this April,” mentioned Pierce, the pianist amongst the group, “and we’ve really come a long way.” It all started with a drummer, a pianist, and a bass player, and in the Spring of 2016 it was, in her words, “tough for us to get going.” According to Pierce, the band would often borrow equipment from Lake Bluff Middle School, such as charts and sometimes equipment from the band director, and the band itself would only occasionally pull gigs from around town. However, when two seniors—Alex Banta and Matthew LeMay—joined the band about a year ago, things started to fall into place. From there, the Swing Sonatas began to play increasingly more volunteer events around the Lake Bluff-Lake Forest area. They’d go on to play at a LEAD benefit together, and even play in the Lake Bluff Parade that summer, which Katie remembers as a, “fantastic experience.” For the band, the Lake Bluff parade served as “a great bonding moment for [the band],” and, “was the last time we’d play as a sextet before our seniors graduated. Plus, we ended up playing really well, too.”
Flash forward just a little over a half of a year, and that enthusiastic group of five—including Katie Pierce, Charlotte Moore, Luke Gulson, Mark Smirnov, and Jonny Kilmer—have been preparing for their upcoming act in the talent show, having auditioned this past week. With ten minutes to set up and play, the Swing Sonatas performed a well-rehearsed “Four” by Miles Davis, and even threw in a variety of improv solos as well. A day later, Katie received an email saying validating their involvement in the show. Moreover, when asked, what’s next then for the band, Pierce promptly laid out the plan for the next three or so weeks. Starting with a week straight of rehearsing, and eventual playing, in a series of mock talent shows which will help the Swing Sonatas play, “within the context of the whole thing,” and to further get comfortable on the stage. Meanwhile, the band continues to juggle jazz band, pit orchestra, and preparations for the upcoming Jazz Fest.
To say that the Swing Sonatas are busy seems to be a bit of an understatement. However, it’s clear just in sitting down with Katie, one of the five band members, that there’s a passion for what they do, and they love where they’re at. “We honestly can grow so much in this genre,” says Katie. “Jazz is an American genre, and we hope to fill a spot in our own musical culture that is seemingly so missing right now.”
Be sure to check out the Swing Sonatas on the 22-24 as they share a bit of their own favorite music with the students of LFHS at the annual Talent Show.
