On Friday Feb. 27 the Campolindo jazz band hosted their annual Jazz Dinner Dance at the Don Tatzin Community Hall in the Lafayette Library.

Senior Connor McLemore is president of Jazz Band. He described the Jazz Dinner Dance as “one of the biggest fundraisers of the Campolindo instrumental music program.” Fellow bandmate sophomore Reana Mubeen who plays the bass said, “The Jazz Dinner Dance is basically an event [where] the jazz band performs, and there’s a dance floor and people dance.”

This is Mubeen’s first year of Jazz Band: “I just started [Jazz Band] this year and I wish I had done it last year, but I didn’t want to wake up at 7:30…I’m really glad I’m doing [Jazz Band this year] and I’m so happy and I would definitely recommend it.”

Like Mubeen, McLemore initially experienced hesitation about joining Jazz Band because of his busy schedule as a student-athlete. “I played water polo so I never thought that I would have time to do the practices early in the morning, but I decided last year it was important to me and joining Jazz Band was the best decision I ever made,” said McLemore.

When asked about the attendance of the Jazz Dinner Dance Mubeen said, “There were definitely a lot of people– the parents of people who play in Jazz Band and some teachers were there.”

McLemore added, “There was a really large turnout this year, even among teachers…shout-out to the Verbanszkys who showed up. This year we ended up having student tickets for the first time, and I thought that was a huge success, we had a pretty large turnout of students so it was nice to see my friends and classmates there.”

Senior bass player Neta-Li Lustig described the event as “pretty packed, especially the dance floor.” Lustig has been in the band ever since the second semester of her sophomore year and plays the bass.

Lustig recommended Jazz Band for people “who want to experiment with new types of music, who like to try new things, and be in a different environment than you normally are in music. It could be a great opportunity.”

McLemore supported Lustig’s recommendation of Jazz Band. He said, “If I were to recommend any class at Campo, there’s nothing I would recommend more than jazz in the morning…it is a really rewarding experience.”

When asked if she has anything else to add Lustig said, “Everyone should come [to the next Jazz Dinner Dance].”