Piedmont Middle and High School Jazz Bands
Yoshi’s
510 Embarcadero West, Oakland
April 1, 2024
Jack London Square buzzed with Piedmont Middle and High School jazz band students and their families, peppering the parking garage and sidewalk of Yoshi’s Japanese restaurant and nightclub. Bypassing the calm glow of the restaurant section, I entered the club.
A “Tito Puente and The Jazz Legends” poster hung on the wall by the entrance, full of scrawling signatures of the greats. It was 8 on a school night, and many people were already seated at the rounded tiers of tables, chairs, and circular booths, eating or wrapping up their dinner before the show. I was approached by a server and didn’t order, but wasn’t made to feel uncomfortable when he later passed by with a tray full of tall glasses of ice water for concert guests.
The black and white blown-up photos of jazz prophets such as Wynton Marsalis and Poncho Sanchez hung along the walls, and acoustic panels were positioned along the curve of the back. I was reminded from the “est. 1972” painted on the walls that this has been a landmark institution for the purveyors of jazz for over 50 years and how special it is that the high school jazz band can come across town and perform on the same stage as the legends before them.
A pre-show recording played followed by the sound of chairs shuffling on stage as the 8th graders in their white button-down shirts and their black slacks found their seats on stage. There was a long, slow fade of the recessed lights over dinner tables and the sounds of dropped drumsticks, forks hitting plates, and hushed whispers filled the silence. Piedmont music teacher Trevor Meseroll came to the microphone and announced that the students had voted on the choice of songs themselves. “They picked really good music,” Meseroll assured us, then left the stage.
“Welcome everyone,” said a student wearing a pair of sunglasses, and to the band she called out, “give us a B flat!” The band gave a honky and absonant response. “I still don’t know how to read music,” another fedora-donning student joked; they did a schoolyard Rochambeau before shouting, “‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’ everyone!” Meseroll snapped them a count-off from the shadows of the stage wing.
The occasional lag in time or missed note did not take away from the passion. This 8th grade jazz band tackled Queen’s ambitious “Bohemian Rhapsody” with exuberance. There were a couple students in the horn section who loved to play forte and a few pesky squeaks from the clarinet section. Smart phones were out as parents and loved ones captured video of their burgeoning young musicians.
The high school students came out with confidence, dressed in all black. Saxophone player Will Kennedy presented the senior jazz combo and without pomp and circumstance, then jumped into Miles Davis’ hoppy 1958 number “Milestones.”
With a long mane of golden wavy hair, Kennedy embodied Miles Davis in his performance with a strong sense of rhythm and phrasing as his fingers fluttered over the keys. In the next number, Kennedy brought out an instrument that looked like an aerophone, a digital saxophone, that sounded like a synthesizer. It was innovative of Meseroll to encourage his students to experiment with electronic instruments in a high school jazz band. How very jazz. The school boasts that students from the program go on to study at conservatories like Berklee School of Music; with the creative and autonomous direction with which Meseroll leads, I can see how.
The set was short and sweet. It ended on a funky cover of Jamiroquai’s “Time Won’t Wait,” with savory smells of garlic and soy sauce continuously wafting through the air. Meseroll thanked Yoshi’s for the space to fundraise, the staff, and gave a shout out to the seniors in the class of 2024. Always wonderful to see and support the local rising stars such as those from the Piedmont High School jazz band. Perhaps I’ll order some sushi next time I go to Yoshi’s.
