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| Students from the John Jay Big Band Perform at the Spaghetti Dinner |
At night, John Jay tends to be a quiet place, inhabited solely by janitors and the music they use to keep awake, echoing through the empty cinderblock halls. But if you were present on March 9th, a steady swing chart, orchestral ballad, or Broadway show tune may have led you to the cafeteria -- a vibrant atmosphere filled with twinkling Christmas lights, buzzing students preparing for their sets, and, most importantly, the omnipotent aroma of spaghetti sauce and meatballs.
This is the Spaghetti Dinner, an annual event held by the John Jay Music Boosters (JJMB) to raise funds, bring the community together, and celebrate music. For a small ticket fee, people of all ages and backgrounds are invited to come to school, serve themselves at a donated all-you-can-eat buffet, and listen to music performed by our own students. Any John Jay student is allowed to put together an ensemble or perform a solo in front of a casual audience.
“It’s a good time,” said senior Michael G. “I’ve been coming here every year since I was a freshman to share music with my friends and family. I mean, who doesn’t love music?”
Students and their families aren’t the only ones drawn to the spaghetti dinner; John Jay alumni are present in every corner, enjoying themselves and reliving their own memories at the Spaghetti Dinner. College freshmen Antoinette A. and Michael C. both stopped by for the evening.
“I know that my mom texted me saying that the spaghetti dinner was tonight, and I was like, ‘I’m coming. Straight home from Albany.’ I just bolted here from my sign language class,” laughed Antoinette. Michael C. added, “Being here gives me a sense of pride in my school. It gets better every year, and I’m proud to have been a part of it.”
The Spaghetti Dinner began six years ago, as instrumental music teacher Mr. Banda recollected. “I remember the President of the JJMB came to me and said, ‘People will donate the food, groups will play, we’ll charge at the door.’ It sounded pretty good to me. And it’s been awesome.”
Events at previous Spaghetti Dinners have included silent auctions, raffles, fifty-fifties, students and ensembles from Van Wyck joining the performers, and even a double-seating at one Spaghetti Dinner with high interest. Banda personally contributes by leading the Jazz Ensemble, an auditioned group at John Jay specializing in jazz, swing, and rock.
On working with students, Banda remarked, “It’s great to have events like this where they know they’re going to perform. It elevates their level of playing overall because they have a goal to work towards. Sometimes the kid’s faces light up, sometimes they freeze. But they get a lot from the experience of learning to recover.”
Many well-established groups like the Jazz Ensemble perform regularly at Spaghetti Dinners. But this year, there were several new groups: the Women’s Choir, a recently-developed group of girls led by Candice R., sang and danced their hearts out during their performance. Lourdes M., a junior, said, “Women’s Choir is so much fun and a great way to connect with each other. This year we started doing choreography.”
The Ukulele Club is another ensemble that was started this year by senior and college-bound music major Elira M. It has since become one of the more populous clubs in the school. The club consists of around thirty students playing ukulele and singing simultaneously. Ukulele Club member Nina I. stated, “Ukulele is a different type of instrument; it’s fun because we get to spread the joy of an instrument that may not be very popular otherwise.”
Vice President of the club and John Jay freshman Matthew A. contributed, “I love ukulele club. I mean, I might be kind of biased as Vice President, but it’s great. We meet every Friday if we can. You don’t have to know how to play ukulele if you join. We’ll teach you lots of good songs.”
When the Antoinette and Matthew A. (siblings) were asked about their favorite part of the night, Antoinette replied, “I love the big ensembles, but getting to listen to the small ones are incredible. The Flaming Meatballs are incredible.” Matthew instantly chimed in: “I love The Flaming Meatballs.”
More-than-appropriate for a spaghetti dinner, the Flaming Meatballs is a blues trio consisting of brothers George and John A. on guitar/lead vocals and drums with their father on bass. The ensemble began when the brothers were nine and seven years old and wanted to start a small group together. Now, they are in their junior and freshman years of high school and have exploded in popularity at John Jay and outside events.
George A. spoke on his passion for performing in saying, “I liked the energy. You can convey a lot of emotion in the blues. A lot of people like blues, and they don’t realize it. They hear it and don’t even know what it is. When people put effort into their music, you feel it, the audience feels it, and that’s the best part.”
George certainly has an aptitude for connecting with an audience, as shown by the clapping along and cheering at each guitar lick, drum solo, and high note in a style not typically heard on mainstream radio. On the blues, he said, “You have to continue the legacy. Blues is something that’s been passed down. People have had it rough, and it’s important to remember that.”
Like Antoinette and Matthew A., George expressed his admiration for small ensembles in saying, “I love the in-between groups. To hear an oboe duet or a violin quartet, it’s so cool. It shows there are people who really like what they do. They chose to practice, to put this together.”
A small ensemble was the Jazz Trio, featuring seniors Anthony B. on drums, Matthew M. on bass, and Robert K. Jr. on tenor saxophone. Anthony B. reported the story of how the trio came to be:
“I had this idea for a while to start a jazz trio. Sometime in February, I asked Matt if he’d want to play bass; I knew him from the John Jay jazz band, and we’ve played together at church. We just needed a third person. With a month until the spaghetti dinner, we were somehow able to convince Bobby, a skilled Tenor Sax player, to join. We’ve been practicing every week for the past month. I chose the hardest song I could find for us to play, “The Magnificent Seven” by Kamasi Washington. We didn’t have sheet music, so we had to learn it by ear. We figured we could just play through the song and improvise until they kicked us off the stage.”
And so they did, learning and exploring their passions for music without boundaries. “That’s the most important part,” said instrumental music teacher Ms. Esposito at the end of the night, “just letting the kids go and do amazing things.” Esposito also illustrated the influence of the Spaghetti Dinner’s fundraising aspect: “I enjoy it because we fundraise, and we get nice things. The first year we ordered stand racks and chair racks, then the chairs started, then we got lockers. It makes everyone’s life easier, it looks pretty, and students learn to treat things nicer. It uplifts the whole atmosphere of the department.”
The Spaghetti Dinner’s effect is circular: students perform, fundraise, and receive the necessary materials and inspiration to practice and perform again. The experience keeps music in the school alive and allows students to leave enlightened, inspired, and ready to practice.
by Emma Charlotte Y.