Music Department pulls off successful Jazz Cabaret

Glimmering bright lights hung along the walls of the dimly lit room, reflecting off the disco ball that hung above. A crowd of people in dresses and ties swayed to the soft tunes played by the Jazz Band. The school’s gyms, both set up and taken down by volunteers, were almost unrecognizable.

Saratoga’s jazz bands and choirs again pulled off a successful Jazz Cabaret on March 19. The annual event, hosted by the music department, is a dance open to all students and adults. The Jazz Band 1, Advanced Jazz Band, Concert Choir, Men’s Choir, Women’s Chorale, the Redwood Middle School jazz band and the West Valley College Jazz Band played smooth jazz music all night.

“Jazz [Cabaret] was really fun this year,” junior Ailene Nguyen said. “The music was really good. I think the bands and the choirs did really well.”

Complementing the good music was the wide variety of food that ranged from cream puffs and brownies to sandwiches.

“The food was amazing. I ate so much,” Nguyen said. “I think I ate more than I danced. In particular, the turkey pesto sandwiches were really good.”

This year, however, the food process was different. Those who attended the event could choose to purchase a ticket with or without access to the food table.

“This year you had to pay to eat. For [performers,] admission is free and then you pay separately if you want to eat,” junior Varsha Ramesh said. “It’s good for those who just want to dance a little bit or came to watch people perform because they don’t have to pay for food too.”

Despite the fact that the local chapter of the National Charity League held its graduation on the same night, roughly 500 people attended the event.

“The attendance this year was pretty good,” Ramesh said. “There were a lot of people who weren’t in choir or band who came. There were a number of adults too.”

Since the choir went on a mini-tour only a week after, they did not get the chance to rehearse their songs as much as usual but still performed at a high level.

“The choir sang ‘Yada Yada Jing,’ ‘I’ll Be There’ by Jackson 5, ‘Blue Moon,’ and ‘Shaboom,’” said Ramesh. “The songs were kind of rough, but we all did pretty well. Everyone really liked the last song, ‘Shaboom,’ and it went really well. I think the Jazz [Cabaret] went really well in general.”