The Rhythm Section

SFJAZZ All-Star High School Quintet
Billy Buss, 18, trumpet; Ruthie Price, 20, drums; Jesse Scheinin, 17, tenor saxophone; Nick Underwood, 21, bass; Julian Pollack, 18, piano.

Wynton Marsalis once described jazz as “music that swings.” Which explains its improvisational nature, its independent—yet simultaneous—melodies and varying degrees of pitch. The 2006 members of the SFJAZZ All-Star High School Quintet—an elite group chosen from the larger SFJAZZ All-Star High School Ensemble—are torchbearers for jazz legends past and present. They’ve jammed with the likes of Chick Corea, Joshua Redman and Branford Marsalis, but make no mistake, these five are very proud Generation Y citizens.

ROCK STEADY
While their career aspirations range from the obvious (jazz musician) to the academic (professor of African-American studies), they share one fantasy: becoming a rock star. “Sometimes I just like to rock out and scream, and jazz just doesn’t do that for me,” says bassist Nick Underwood. “I only really became a serious musician when I started listening to ska.” Drummer Ruthie Price has a thing for Marilyn Manson, saxophonist Jesse Scheinin commits Radiohead songs to memory and trumpeter Billy Buss grooves on ’70s funk.

BRASS RING
“I’d love to play with Tower of Power,” says Buss, who’s off to Berklee College of Music in Boston on a full scholarship after winning the Jimmy Lyons Memorial Scholarship at the Monterey Jazz Festival earlier this year. “Their horn section rocks.”

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