High school musicians seek perfect blend at JazzNIC

COEUR d'ALENE - Some of the Post Falls teenagers were wringing their hands, some chatting low and nervous as they assembled in the sparse rehearsal room at North Idaho College.

"Stop talking. Stop talking," warned Choir Director John Kracht.

All fell silent when Kracht tapped his fingers on piano keys. A hum drifted through the choir, sustaining the harmony.

Up front again, Kracht swept his hands through the air.

A deep base line thrummed from the boys in back. Soon the girls jumped in, sprinkling light falsetto as the song took shape.

It was "I Got Rhythm," but not the traditional version of the jazz staple.

For a song about rhythm, this variation was full of tough ones. Several parts woven over each other. Off-beat entrances all over the place. Four syllables crammed into repeating triplets, forming a fast, torturous tongue twister.

When Kracht waved for them to stop, members of the Post Falls High School Troubadors could cite their errors before he even spoke.

"The guys were rushing a little," and "bear with us, we'll get it," floated out of the group.

Kracht wasn't surprised that members of the audition choir were a little jittery on Tuesday afternoon.

They were about to perform for a jazz clinic, part of the annual JazzNIC program this week.

Over three days, band and choir members from more than 25 schools have congregated at NIC to perform for and be critiqued by reputable jazz teachers.

The Post Falls students were crooning pieces they had learned for this single performance, Kracht said.

"I'm not a jazz musician," he confessed, adding that the choir rarely attempts jazz pieces. "I grew up in the Midwest. We did have swing choirs, which is very different from jazz choirs."

But that was the point of participating in the jazz event, he said, watching the kids crowd the piano during a break.

For himself and the students to experience a musical style they aren't often exposed to. To ensure it doesn't die.

"Just to experience jazz, and what jazz can be," Kracht said.

The lesson wasn't wasted on these kids.

Sarah Nicholes' eyes were glued to Kracht's hands as he directed. She snapped her fingers, keeping herself and others in time.

"At first I didn't like it, just because it's so hard," the 17-year-old said with a laugh. "But now that we know it, we're like, 'Oh, yeah!'"

The event is welcome practice for the musical path Nicholes hopes to follow, she said.

"I really want to be in a jazz choir. Maybe in college," she said.

The challenge of learning jazz will make the students more intuitive performers, predicted senior Gavin Rook.

"We're supposed to interpret the way the music feels," said Rook, a lanky youth whose eyebrows raised with effort during rehearsal. "I think you really have to take it to heart."

Camille Barlow said she had listened to other groups' performances on Tuesday. She was intrigued to hear new arrangements of classic melodies.

"It's definitely different," the wide-eyed senior said.

Jazz has never been the 18-year-old's first choice for recreational listening, Barlow conceded. She had to pay close attention to Kracht to learn the jazz pieces for the event.

But singing is singing. Simply being in the choir, she said, listening to her peers warbling around her and keeping time with them, is always gratifying.

"Music is really important to me. I love singing and I love being in choir," Barlow said. "It's kind of my escape. It perks me up."

The college has hosted the JazzNIC program for roughly 20 years, said Terry Jones, NIC director of bands.

Students participating this week hail from across North Idaho and Spokane, Wash., he said.

"We believe jazz is an American art form, and in order to preserve it, it has to be taught to the next generation," Jones said.

JazzNIC is sponsored by the Associated Students of NIC. The public is welcome to attend school performances that continue through today, starting on the hour throughout the day in Boswell Hall Schuler Performing Arts Center.

In a pedagogical era of standardized testing, Jones said, it's important to teach kids about a musical genre that focuses on improvisation.

"It allows them to comment and be more self expressive than anything else they do," he said. "Improvisation happens in the moment. They experience what they're feeling in that moment."