PRINCE ALBERT — There is another option in Prince Albert for students who want to expand their musical horizons.
John Diefenbaker School band teacher Scott Roos has put together the PA Youth Jazz Band as a way to add options for students across the city.
Roos said he was inspired by programs that began in Saskatoon and Regina following the end of COVID-19 restrictions.
"I saw the Saskatoon Youth Jazz Orchestra perform a few times under the direction of Nick Fanner and that kind of is what inspired me to start something of similar ilk,” Roos said.
Roos put the word out a year ago and soon saw some interest from his home school. They also put the word out at schools in the Saskatchewan Rivers School Division and Prince Albert Catholic School Division.
"Several of the players when we started the band a year ago were from John Diefenbaker. Originally, they were either in high school and (former students of) John Diefenbaker or they were currently in John Diefenbaker, so it allowed us to get the ball rolling,” Roos said.
The band includes a mix of students from Grade 6 to Grade 11 from schools around Prince Albert.
Last year, Roos said, the group had more of a jazz combo-type environment with six to eight people in the band, including a rhythm section.
"We're very fortunate we have a drummer, a bass player and a pianist that are kind of driving the band,” Roos said. “They're very talented, but I mean, the whole band is full of extremely talented individuals from four or five different schools.”
The band currently has 17 players with six alto sax, five trombone players, three trumpet players and a piano, drummer and bass player. Roos said that he was very fortunate to have such a large number of players.
"I do think it's going a lot better than expected,” he said. “The kids are getting used to playing in a more traditional big band setting where we have five saxophone players, we have five trombone players.
“We have three trombone players right now. We're adding a fourth trombone player next week, hopefully—knock on wood. It's just the students getting used to the sound and getting used to playing in an environment where every single person has a job. Every single person has a very specific part that they're playing in the band.”
He said that the band is also a mix of high school players and top-tier elementary school players which is also a positive.
"There's a bit of mentorship aspect that's coming along with that, Plus, we're just spending time over and above what any of these students are in their actual regular programs too,” Roos said.
Roos has set short-term and long-term goals for the band. This year’s short-term goal is to enter the Prince Albert Music Festival.
"I mean long term, we'd like to play in something like the Regina Optimist Festival, which is one of the bigger competitive festivals in the province, arguably,” Roos said. “Every town has their own individual festival as well, like PA, which is extremely valuable and a great experience for the kids.”
Tatiana Trautmann is first alto saxophone player and Abbey Roos (Scott’s daughter) is tenor saxophone player. They are both Grade 11 students at Carlton Comprehensive High School and also operate the Instagram and TikTok accounts for the Jazz Band.
They have also both been in the band since it began last year.
Trautmann said that the experience has been a benefit.
"It's really nice because you get to experience, different people's playing levels and kind of be a role model a little bit and help some kids. It's also a really good learning experience,” she said. “We don't have a lot of options like this in Prince Albert.”
Abbey said it’s great to have another band in Prince Albert that gives young musicians more options.
“It means a lot to me because it gives us a chance to play music outside of just school,” she said. “We don't get that much time to play (in school) and it's good for kids who really care about music to have an outlet to be around people who also really care about music.”
The two agree that having the option of the Jazz Band expands their horizons as musicians.
They are currently learning to play more swing-style jazz.
“We do a couple of different styles and it's nice because we don't normally do those styles and concert bands,” Abbey said. “It's cool to play something that we don't usually play.”
They both agreed that they have also grown as musicians.
"I would say yes for sure,” Abbey said. “Just being able to play different music is really great.”
The Prince Albert Youth Jazz Band practices every Tuesday from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the band room at Vincent Massey School.
