In March 2023, four of my private cello students approached me to share that they were excited to re-establish the Knights of Jazz String Band.
The band’s first iteration was formed back in April 2019, just after I first listened to Duke Ellington and fell in love. I played a couple tunes off Ellington’s OKEH (1927-1930) collection for my 7th grade private cello student, and she told me she was down to recruit a friend to jam on it. The ensemble was born. The Covid 19 Pandemic beginning later in that year was a setback, but the string band rehearsed outdoors at Matanky Park near my home in Chicago. Fatherhood in 2021 proved an even bigger challenge to music-making than the pandemic however, and we took a brief hiatus.
After re-forming in Spring 2023,the Knights of Jazz String Band began gigging, playing a jazz night at Chicago restaurant and bar Archie’s. The original four became seven members in Fall 2023, and an audition process was added. Gigs included the Holiday Fair in December 2023 at the Chicago Waldorf School, a holiday gig at the upscale retirement community The Mather, and a Bat Mitzvah for one of our bandmembers. The band kicked off Spring 2024 with 11 string players, made band t-shirts, started a website, and I wrote a mission statement. Swing on!
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