Jazz Bands
Jazz opens up an entirely new dimension for students in the Thousand Oaks Instrumental Music Department. It gives students an opportunity to experience and experiment with new styles of music. A broad range of jazz styles is explored including examples of: bebop, swing, Latin, rock, etc. Members are encouraged to improvise.
Members of the Jazz Ensembles perform with the following instrumentation:
Alto, Tenor and Bari Saxes
Trombones, Trumpets
Piano, Guitar, Bass
Trap Set (Drum Set)
Auxiliary Percussion
Thousand Oaks High School includes two jazz ensembles and other individual combos: The AM Jazz Band and the PM Jazz Band. Placement into these ensembles is determined by audition. Both Jazz Ensembles perform for school activities, concerts and in various Jazz Festivals in the spring.
Both Jazz Ensembles perform for school activities, concerts and in various Jazz Festivals in the spring.
AM Jazz Band
The AM Jazz Ensemble is the number one jazz ensemble at Thousand Oaks High School. The members of this ensemble are selected through audition held in August from the membership of our other performing ensembles. All of AM Jazz Ensemble members are in another instrumental ensemble class and are members of the Marching Lancers. This is a yearlong class, which meets at 7:00 AM, Monday through Friday, hence the name, AM Jazz.
The AM Jazz Ensemble performs at the annual dinner dance and silent auction, sponsored by the TOHS Band Boosters, featuring the big band music of the 1940's.
In the spring of 2003, The AM Jazz Ensemble performed and competed in the Reno Jazz Festival, placing 6th in the Advanced Class Division.
PM Jazz Band
The PM Jazz Ensemble is designed for beginning and intermediate Jazz Students. The instrumentation is the same and this ensemble meets in the second semester of the school year in the afternoon after the normal school day.