After months of planning, the Corridor Jazz Project 2021 has begun. It’s a big project, even without a pandemic to complicate things. We launched the program on Feb. 18 at Mt. Vernon, where the Swinging’ STANGS performed with guest artist (and Mt. Vernon alum!) singer Amy Friedl Stoner.
It would have been far easier to just cancel the project for this year. But nearly all of the competitions and festivals that are a normal part of the jazz band calendar have fallen by the wayside. We felt strongly that if it were at all possible to provide this bit of normalcy for the students, particularly the seniors, we needed to make it happen.
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So instead of bringing all the bands to a central recording location, we made the commitment to go to them, taking a portable recording setup to each participating school. There won’t be a Corridor Jazz concert this year. Instead, we’re partnering with GMixEast who is making a professional video of each recording. The videos will be a part of big online concert/party on May 7.
You can see from the pictures the extra precautions the school and our production team are taking to make this the safest experience possible. The band is spread out, wind instruments all have bell covers, and/or special masks to accommodate mouthpieces. The students did an exceptional job of re-masking when they weren’t playing, along with staying socially-distanced.
A project that usually takes just a couple of weeks will this year will extend to nearly 3 months by the time we are all done. But it’s worth it to give these dedicated students a chance to demonstrate their craft during a time when so much has been taken from them.