JAZZ BAND INFORMATION

The band rehearses on Tuesday and Friday mornings throughout the entire school year.  There will be an absence limit of 8 absences for ANY reason.  A 9th absence will result in removal from the group. Additionally, 3 tardies will be considered 1 absence.  Below is the schedule for the entire school year of 2018-2019.  Note that some rehearsals are canceled to accommodate other school events.  Please check your calendar to make sure you can commit to the rehearsal schedule.  The jazz band performs at the Winter and Spring concerts, as well as other events throughout the year as they come up.  There is an expectation that everyone will prepare their music before coming to rehearsals, as this is an auditioned ensemble.

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The Cresskill Middle School Jazz Band, directed by Joseph J. Verderese, Jr., was created in 2012 and has become a place for our middle school students to explore jazz style and improvisation as well as train to become members of our high school jazz program in the years to come.  They have played at the Cresskill/Demarest Rotary Club Dinner, MEBCI Middle School Jazz Festival and at various school concerts including the annual Holiday concert, spring concert and Cabaret Night.  Through the years, they have had the opportunity to work with local and world-renowned clinicians such as Conrad Herwig, Gary Smulyan, Jeff Kunkel and Gary Fink.

The staff at Cresskill is very proud that many of our graduates from Cresskill’s Jazz Bands have gone on to prestigious schools for music including Hofstra University, Rutgers University, Berkeley School of Music, Boston University and the University of Miami.  Through the years, we have students who have been involved in the Lincoln Center Youth Jazz Orchestra, the NAFME National Jazz Band, All State Jazz Band, Region I Junior Jazz Band and Region I High School Jazz Band.