San Jose Jazz Summer Fest showcases Mountain View teens

High School All Stars set to play festival main stage Aug. 10.

Mountain View High School students will be representing in the brass section when  the San Jose High School All Stars take the main stage Aug. 10 at the San Jose Jazz Summer Fest.

The ensemble is part of a regional, audition-based music education program under the auspices of San Jose Jazz (SJZ). The current lineup includes Mountain View High’s Liam Devenney on trumpet and Evan Gault on first trombone, with senior Max Jankowski sitting in as alternate alto saxophone player.

While some teens might be daunted by the thought of playing on the same stage that will be graced by the likes of the Family Stone, Herbie Hancock and Angélique Kidjo during the three-day festival, the goal of the All Stars program is for students not only to master their instruments but to gain performance experience. Led by director Oscar Pangilinan, a sax player who was born and raised in San Jose, the All Stars also learn improvisation techniques, music theory, arranging, composition and jazz history.

Jankowski says he’s keen to improve his improvisation and soloing techniques, and to meet more people in the jazz scene through the All Stars. Music, he adds, is a welcome escape from his school activities.

“The music hall at school is a place where I always feel welcomed and supported,” he says in his bio.

Gault also found Mountain View High’s music program to be supportive. He remembers playing tuba in the marching band for the first time when he was a junior, a new experience he says allowed him to make new friends in the section.

Gault comes from a musical family. Both of his older brothers play brass—trumpet and trombone—so he says learning trombone was a way of following in their footsteps.

Devenney’s father played trumpet as a child, so it was natural for the teen to take up the instrument. Devenney says music plays a huge role in his life: He’s always listening or thinking about it.

Gault agrees that music is “pretty much everything” in his life, and even in his downtime, as he spends a lot of the day listening to music.

The All Stars have a busy schedule, with weekly rehearsals and a performance schedule that includes gigs with SJZ, the Monterey Jazz Festival and the “Season of Hope” series at St. Joseph’s Cathedral in downtown San Jose.

Passion to perform

Besides musical chops, All Stars director Pangilinan says he wants to instill a passion for jazz in his students and to inspire their creativity.

Shreyas Anand, a student at Lynbrook High School in the Fremont Union High School District, says providing the pulse and rhythm for his middle school band inspired him to pick up the upright bass. In addition to being the bass alternate for the All Stars, Anand also plays double bass in the SF Symphony Youth Orchestra.

His favorite memory of playing music is performing in Fresno with the All-State High School String Orchestra, a gig that arguably helped him prepare to play the All Stars’ Summer Fest gig.

“Successfully performing in front of a massive crowd was an amazing feeling,” Anand says.

The 34th San Jose Jazz Summer Fest is set for Aug. 9-11 on numerous outdoor and indoor stages in downtown San Jose. The Jay Paul Company Main Stage is at Plaza de César Chavez. For tickets and the full festival lineup, visit summerfest.sanjosejazz.org/buy-now.