As a fifth-grader, June McMahon was required by her school to play a musical instrument, so she picked up the bass. Now a sophomore at Notre Dame High School in downtown San Jose, McMahon is holding down the rhythm section in an ensemble where she can hone her jazz skills with her musical peers.
The bassist is in her second season with the San Jose High School All Stars, a regional, audition-based music education program under the auspices of San Jose Jazz (SJZ). The group is set to perform Aug. 10 on the SJZ Summer Fest main stage, which will also be graced by the likes of the Family Stone, Herbie Hancock and Angélique Kidjo during the three-day festival.
McMahon says her most thrilling musical experience so far was performing with the All Stars, composer/drummer John Hollenbeck and other international artists in SJZ’s 2023 Winter Fest: Counterpoint with Ukraine.
“It was amazing to be able to play with the creator of the music and execute his vision,” she says in her bio. “I felt it was the first time I was able to support the band in the way the bass is supposed to do.”
The goal of the All Stars program is for students not only to master their instruments but to learn improvisation techniques, music theory, arranging, composition, performance and jazz history. For the student musicians, this means weekly rehearsals and a performance schedule that includes gigs with SJZ, the Monterey Jazz Festival and the “Season of Hope” series at St. Joseph’s Cathedral in downtown San Jose.
Besides musical chops, All Stars director Oscar Pangilinan, a sax player who was born and raised in San Jose, says he wants to instill a passion for jazz in his students and to inspire their creativity.
Kunaal Pendse, a student at Pioneer High School in San Jose’s Almaden Valley, may not have been passionate when he first started playing baritone sax, but he thought it looked cool. The All Stars’ baritone sax alternate says he’s inspired by players with a great tone, like Ronnie Cuber and Paul Desmond.
Pendse says his favorite performance memory is his first solo, a minute-long replication of a riff by the baritone saxophonist Dennis DeBlasio, director of the jazz performance and composition programs at Rowan University in New Jersey.
“It was a really hard solo, but I practiced a lot and played it in concert,” he recalls.
The 34th Annual San Jose Jazz Summer Fest is set for Aug. 9-11 on numerous outdoor and indoor stages in downtown San Jose. The Jay Paul Company Main Stage is at Plaza de César Chavez Park. For tickets and the full festival lineup, visit summerfest.sanjosejazz.org/buy-now.
