After a full month of students using jazz band as a time to relax and study, it is time to refocus and prepare for the spring shows — a time dreaded by the musicians.

“See, it’s not that I don’t like playing at shows, but I like talking with my friends in jazz band better than practicing,” senior Alex Ludeman said. “We finally get settled into doing nothing and messing around when boom, we have to start pulling out new charts to learn.”

The new songs that are chosen are chosen by the seniors in the band. The songs are selected based on how much fun the students have playing them.

“There is a song that we play called ‘Birdland’ that is always a hit and we love playing it,” Ludeman said. “This year we got music from the movie ‘The Incredibles,’ which is turning out to be a good one, especially since we always seem to have ‘The Incredibles’ on in the band room during our class.”

Although the songs are well-known and practice is laid back, band teacher Carol Allen expects nothing less from her students than what she expects from them during competitions.

“At this point, everyone is excited to be almost done with school,” Allen said. “The seniors have already checked out, and the rest of the class is trying to make sure that they get the most out of these last few weeks with them before they graduate. The spring shows are the last chance they have to jam together before the seniors leave.”

As of now, there will be two shows: the spring concert and Jazz Under the Stars. Jazz Under the Stars will be held on April 13 at 6 p.m. in the campus courtyard, and the spring concert will be held in the auditorium at 6:30 p.m. on April 24.

By Nathaniel Curtis