West Ranch High School hosted the Super Jazz at the Ranch event Saturday, which brought a day of jazz music to the school with 37 performances from 24 schools within the Los Angeles area.

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The event was held from 8:30 am to 7:30 pm at West Ranch High School and was open to the public, with tickets priced at $10 for general admission and $7 for students and seniors.

Brian Leff, Director of Jazz Studies at West Ranch High School, said this is his 3rd year as director of Super Jazz at the Ranch, an event that is in its 7th year overall.

“I love this school,” Leff said. “It’s a great place for music and to be a music teacher. There’s a big music program at West Ranch and we’ve got a lot of students involved and we get to host great events like this.”

Related Article: West Ranch High Holding Super Jazz At The Ranch

Leff said Super Jazz at the Ranch began about 7 years ago at West Ranch, under the direction of West Ranch’s former jazz director.

“My predecessor [at West Ranch], Bob Babko, started the festival when he was at Valencia High School,” Leff said. “ He wanted to start a jazz festival for the community and for the schools, and then when he came to West Ranch High School about 7 years ago, he brought the festival with him. After he retired, I came in and continued its successful tradtion.”

Despite his retirement, Babko continues to be a part of the event by serving as a judge, Leff said.

In total, 6 judges were present at the event to critique the bands and give them an overall grade based on a standardized rubric.

Leff said the judges are picked from among talented musicians, and their marks are used to pick the overall best jazz bands of the day in 6 seperate divisions.

“Each school that comes prepares there music and plays for these well respected educators,” Leff said. “They are usually college directors or excellent high school directors, professional musicians, and they listen while [the bands] are playing. They give feedback and say things that are sounding good, things that need work, and give comments to make the sound better.”  

There were a total of 37 performances from the 24 different schools who participated Saturday.

For more information about the event, visit the West Ranch music program’s website, here.

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