Jazz bands tune up for competition

Sisters musical talent was on display last week with Jody Henderson leading the way. The first jazz band performance of the school year was preparation for conference competition to follow.

Henderson’s specialty is listed in the Sisters High School staff roster as “Instrumental Music.” But he does much more. Henderson doesn’t conduct the band he leads, he becomes of it. He is happiest when a student performs a flawless solo with the backing of the band.

The free concert in the Sisters High School (SHS) auditorium was led off by the Junior Varsity (JV). Henderson explained that the JV is the “second string.” While larger bands have many players on each instrument, the smaller SHS jazz bands are limited to 18 players total in each band.

So the best are the Varsity, the next best the JVs. But in this concert, the JVs were pushing hard. Any football coach would love to have a JV this closely matched to his varsity. At least that’s how the audience of about 200 heard it.

This concert marked the debut of a new instrument for the SHS bands — the vibraphone. The instrument is similar to a xylophone in appearance, but the bars of the vibraphone are made of metal; the xylophone has wood bars.

The bars of the vibraphone are struck with mallets of varying hardness and it has a sustain pedal like a piano that, when depressed, allows the notes to ring until the pedal is lifted.

Invented in the U.S. in the early 1900s, the vibraphone got its name from the pulsators, metal discs under the bars at the openings of the resonators (tubes). Motors turn the pulsators creating vibrato.

The vibraphone was popularized by jazz greats Lionel Hampton, Milt Jackson, Cal Tjader and others.

During the concert, Henderson gave a public thank-you to the Sisters High School Foundation, which provided funds for the vibraphone as well as a string bass and baritone saxophone.