On Friday, May 22, the Archie Williams Jazz Band held their final performance of the 2025-2026 school year in the Little Theater. The performance showcased four different combos, composed of both instrumentalists and vocalists, each of which performed three to four tunes. The show started at 6:45 p.m. and lasted two hours, with short breaks between bands.

The event began with a short introduction from Mario Aparicio, the Archie Williams music director. He explained that, throughout the evening, he would be presenting awards to several members of the program. He then invited the senior members of the program to the stage and gave each of them a medal for their hard work.

“I [always] give out awards. It’s always the last concert of the year, [but this is the first time] I’ve done senior awards. I’ve never done it myself as a teacher, or just celebrated by giving them medals… I’ve been wanting to do it since I got here two years ago, [and I] just finally got the medals for that,” Aparicio said.

The first combo kicked off the night with “Bye Bye Blackbird” by Ray Henderson and Mort Dixon, as sung by Sarah Vaughan. The eight-member group was a mix of upperclassmen and lowerclassmen. The combo’s set featured solo performances from four different performers, including senior Emily Alonzo on the trombone and sophomore Everett Connell on the drums.

Before the next combo began their performance, Aparicio gave several awards to members of the first combo, including the Most Improved award to Everett and sophomore trumpet player Calvin Jackman.

The second combo, consisting only of six students, began their set with “Misty” by Errol Garner, as sung by Sarah Vaughan, and “Cheese Cake” by Dexter Gordon. Their set had a total of five solos, including a trumpet solo by freshman Posey Adams and an alto sax solo from freshman Dotty Pikkarainen-Klein. Dotty described how her combo practiced and refined their set in preparation for the performance.

“We [all] learn [the songs] in class separately, and then we try to play it together. It usually sounds really bad [at first], but then we just play it together over and over again until it starts to sound better,” Dotty said.

Aparicio returned to the stage to hand out awards; this time, Dotty received a Most Improved award for her alto sax and violin playing.

Seven students came out on stage for the third combo. They began their set with “Bolivia” by Cedar Walton, and followed with “I Wish You Love” by Charles Trenet and Albert Beach, which featured senior Hanna Janson on vocals. Each combo member performed at least one solo, including multiple trumpet solos from sophomore Zeke Damm, a drum solo from junior Alex Casey and three trombone solos from senior Ryan Cunningham. They concluded with “To Brenda With Love” by Paquito D’Rivera, wrapping up what Alex described as an especially cohesive set.

“We played a bunch of different genres. We played with a vocalist, and for her we played a medium swing ballad to accommodate for her voice, and then we also played a jazz fusion song, a standard jazz tune instrumental, and finally we finished with a Latin tune that was kind of our blowout of the show, and a lot of people really responded well to that,” Alex said.

The fourth combo closed the night with their four-song set, beginning with “4 A.M.” by Herbie Hancock, and ending with “Hargrove” by Kenny Garrett. They included ten solos, including three keys and bass solos from sophomore Xander Santucci and a guitar solo from senior Fin Donnelley.

After the performance, Alex felt proud of his combo’s accomplishments, and found that each combo had greatly improved since the beginning of the year.

“I feel great. My band and I put a lot of work in, and it paid off. I feel like we played really well. There was no confusion, and it overall sounded really well. I think every band did the same, and every band sounded really well, the best it’s ever sounded,” Alex said.

While Friday’s performance was the jazz band’s last show for the school year, Aparicio has invited members of the jazz band to perform in the Fairfax Festival. The performance will take place at the Fairfax Redwood stage Friday, June 13 at 12 p.m.