KIDS IN ACTION
June 2005

Kids Who Play Jazz Music Just Like the Pros

The cover of the Bright Kids CD (Lapland Co.)

On March 27, a jazz concert was held in the town of Shichigahama in Miyagi Prefecture, right by the Pacific Ocean. The concert attracted a standing-room-only crowd in a venue that holds 500 people. What was special about the event was that the 19 band members were all elementary school students from grades three through six.

This jazz band is made up of members of the Bright Kids wind music club of Tagajo-Higashi Elementary School in Miyagi Prefecture. The outstanding level of the kids' performance belies their age, and they have become hugely popular, particularly in Japan's Tohoku region.

The school's wind music club has a long history, but why did the kids start performing jazz music? In 2001, the club had shrunk to only 10 members - too few to play ordinary wind music. So club advisor Matsumori Hideki asked the members if they'd like to perform jazz music. After listening to a jazz CD, the kids responded enthusiastically, saying things like "That's cool!" "That seems fun!" and "I definitely want to give it a try!" And just like that, Bright Kids was born. From then on, in addition to weekend practices, the kids practiced on their own each morning and after school to improve their skills.

Bright Kids have performed in numerous concerts since the year they started. They've gained attention because they are able to perform at a very high level in spite of having an average age of 10. They have become so popular that they have been asked specially to perform at a number of local festivals and events.

Their first CD went on sale on May 25. It is a live album containing the best seven out of the 16 songs, including an encore, that they performed at their March 27 concert.

The band's next scheduled performance is at the Johzenji Street Jazz Festival in Sendai, an event held on September 10 and 11 in which some 600 bands from throughout Japan participate. The band has played there every year since it was formed, but this year is the festival's fifteenth anniversary, so the kids are making an extra-special effort. The band members are practicing hard in preparation. "It's a big event so it's going to be challenging. We want to put everything we have into our performance."