Jazz musicians from all over the Midwest came together at Purdue University for the 26th Annual Purdue Jazz Festival. The two Lake Central jazz ensembles traveled down to West Lafayette on Saturday, Jan. 23.
“[The] Jazz Fest is a festival in which music enthusiasts come together and share their love for jazz. The fest is free for spectators, so it makes for a great time with your friends or family who also share the common interest,” Nikola Rivera (10) said.
The Purdue Jazz Festival is known for being Indiana’s biggest jazz festival. This event featured over 75 different jazz groups and offered several clinics and concerts throughout the day.
“The best part was getting the opportunity to hear great music and hear all the hard work people put into their passion,” Jesus Rivera (12) said.
Jazz has been around for hundreds of years and is known for its improvisation; the students in the Lake Central Jazz I and Jazz II ensembles share the same deep love for the genre as the first jazz musicians did.
“I prefer to play jazz over any other type of music because in my opinion, it is one of the hardest genres to play. I have a lot of respect for jazz because of its origin and I have a lot of respect for the musicians who play it. I enjoy listening to it just as much as playing it,” Nicholas Perez (12) said.
