A big thank you to Gabriel Tucker for his blog post about playing with the Worcestershire Youth Jazz Orchestra! Gabriel joined WYJO in 2021 as a trumpet player and has recently played his final concert before heading off to university. Read his story below:

My name is Gabriel Tucker and I have been a member of the Worcestershire Youth Jazz Orchestra since the September of 2021. I have to admit, I was originally reluctant to join, but after much persuasion from my Mum I applied online and was invited to my first rehearsal, as 4^th Trumpet on a Tuesday after school, in Droitwich Salvation Army Hall.

I remember my first rehearsal very clearly.  I was very nervous and after looking at the music I was about to play I became even more terrified. However, I soon found comfort in the fact that my mistakes were hard to pick out amongst the brilliant sound of the rest of the brass section. Over the following weeks, I grew quietly in confidence until I started to make a meaningful contribution to the sound. In each part of the band there were and still are more than confident members that will always pick up the slack for newer or less experienced players, so I never felt exposed or alone. The band director, Ian Hattersley was very welcoming and never pushed me to play something I wasn't confident about.

At the time of writing this, I am one day away from my final concert with WYJO, after spending the weekend with them playing outside the Guildhall in Worcester, and at the Upton Jazz festival. I am sad to have to leave the band this year, but I now want to pursue further musical ventures at University and  I am confident that I will return to play with them whenever I can. I have made many friends in the band and would be sad at the thought of never playing with them again.

The music itself is broad in its repertoire, playing big band charts to more jazzy standards. Whatever it is we are playing, we never fail to make an incredible sound. My personal favourite is a piece that I have played every year of my time at WYJO called Sabor de Cuba, a Latin jazz piece. I would never have been exposed to such music outside of WYJO, and playing with the band has expanded my music taste. Music can also be suggested to the band leader, and I’ve had the pleasure of playing brass band arrangements of soundtracks from video games, such as the 'Cuphead' soundtrack, thanks to the request of a saxophonist friend of mine in the band. 

At the start of my time at WYJO, I lacked confidence in my trumpet playing and performance and was afraid that playing with a band would simply highlight this. However, playing with WYJO has given me more confidence in my musical skills and has helped with my sight reading and ability to play with others. Joining WYJO has benefited me in so many ways; it has given me the confidence to learn new instruments, talk to an audience and introduce pieces, write and arrange my own music and bring together musicians to create small ensembles for events such as open mic nights and even busking. I have made great friends and now have the confidence to join music groups at university and even create them. 

I would strongly recommend joining a Severn Arts ensemble, just for the brilliant experience of playing your instruments with other people and for an audience,  but WYJO would be the one I would recommend the most if you want to make music that isn’t classical, but still sounds amazing and loud!

-Gabriel Tucker