The fourth annual Jazz Under the Stars took place April 29 under the pavilion and while it may not have literally been under the stars, there sure was plenty of jazz. Sporting matching collar shirts and a bass sax case with the words “Tips Are Sick Nasty,” the band arrived at just after 7 p.m. and played until 9 p.m. featuring sets played by the whole band and some more specialized groups. Junior James Crown said he was happy with the performance.

“Most of the songs are ready to go so not much practice was necessary,” he said “We basically just came up with a set list quickly and played it. The performance was extremely successful, and we were overall pleased with it.”

The event was originally supposed to take place April 22 but was postponed due to a storm. The band performed everything from Bossa to swing to straight jazz and, according to senior Marc Spurlock, played at a much higher quality than previous years.

“This is by far the best Jazz Under the Stars I’ve participated in,” he said “The playing was much better than past years and we had a much higher turnout. [Band director Christopher] Houze has done an awesome job this year making us better players and increasing the word about the band. Overall it was a great way to close out our gigs for the year.”

By Eve Beard