The Student News Site of Walt Whitman High School

The Black and White

The Student News Site of Walt Whitman High School

The Black and White

The Student News Site of Walt Whitman High School

The Black and White

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March 21, 2024

The rise of AJ’s Half Dozen

The+rise+of+AJs+Half+Dozen


It takes just six boys with a whole lot of passion and talent creating some jazzy tunes, and suddenly the whole crowd is dancing.

“AJ’s Half Dozen,” Whitman’s jazz combo, was formed last year by juniors Andrew Wright and Jack Herscowitz. The band features Herscowitz on tenor sax, Wright on trumpet, sophomore Joseph Tseytlin on piano, junior Grayson Jobst on bass, junior Rian Adamian on guitar and junior Joe Wiedemann on drums.

Herscowitz and Wright began by jamming together on the weekends and decided they wanted to organize a group to play outside of school.

“It’s nice being able to listen to others and learn from them, rather than playing on your own and listening to a pre-recorded backing track,” Herscowitz said. “There’s also a lot of room for creativity and freedom in a combo setting.”

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The band’s name, AJ’s Half Dozen, refers to Andrew, Jack and the four other musicians.

“We knew Rian, Grayson and Joe would be down to play with us,” Herscowitz said.  “Then we decided to ask Joseph, who had played with us in Pyle’s jazz band.”

Though he is the only underclassman, Tseytlin isn’t intimidated by the older musicians’ experience.

“I definitely feel equal within the group itself,” he said. “I also really enjoy the opportunity to be able to play with some of the best musicians in the Whitman community.”

Band and orchestra director Terry Alvey says the musicians sound like professionals.

While AJ’s Half Dozen is student-run, Alvey acts as the group’s manager, helping them book gigs and even suggesting that they make business cards, which they now hand out.

“I’ve got nothing but rave reviews from the people they work for,” Alvey said. “I’ve really seen them mature as musicians.”

The group practices about once a week, choosing their own music from a compilation called The Real Book.

“All these jazz songs used to be illegal so they were called fake books,” Wright said. “But this one is published as the official Real Book now that it’s legal.”

As members of  music department at Whitman, all six group members express a genuine passion for learning new music and building their repertoire.

“Every couple of practices we will pick up The Real Book and learn some new tunes,” Jobst said.

They’ve played everywhere from birthday parties to restaurants to hotels to neighbors’ houses. Adamian fondly recalls one gig for Betsy, a family friend of Wright.

“We were so tight, like incredibly tight,” Adamian said. “The grooves were thick and we turned that place out. I’m sure Betsy will never forget it.”

The guys have different performances that are special to them.

“We’ve also played some really scenic gigs in Annapolis,” Wiedemann said. “And our best sound was in the W Hotel in D.C.”

AJ’s Half Dozen will be featured May 19th at Bethesda Blues and Jazz Club along with other Whitman jazz musicians.

“I’m really excited to play on that large of a stage and have the focus be on us,” Wiedemann said. “It’s really an honor since such talented professionals play there.”

With no graduating seniors in the group, AJ’s Half Dozen is excited to continue improving with the same group next year and get their name out.

“They love what they do and that gets you far,” Alvey said.

 

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