Playing one of the signature tunes of hard bop, musicians spanning five decades of Milton Academy jazz gathered onstage to perform “Moanin’” as part of a free concert event to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the jazz program on April 4, 2014.
Since 1974, Milton’s jazz program, founded and directed by music faculty member Bob Sinicrope, has grown to include more than 75 students involved in the study and performance of jazz in nine different jazz groups.
Current jazz students and alumni filled the evening with a range of musical performances. Special guest Horace Alexander Young, a former music director and saxophonist, led the group in a set of South African music. Jazz pianist Aaron Goldberg ’91 sent along a video performance that was played for the audience, which included Bill Zildjian ’75, one of Bob’s first students. The concert concluded with a jam session of more than 40 students playing penny whistles.
Milton’s student jazz musicians have toured South Africa nine times, during which they have performed with T. S. Monk and for Archbishop Desmond Tutu, delivering more than $135,000 worth of donated materials to township schools. Students regularly play at popular and esteemed local venues, such as the Ryles Jazz Club in Cambridge, Massachusetts. They have performed on NPR’s nationally broadcast quiz show “Says You,” and at the inaugural ball of Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick ’74.