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July 16, 1999/3 Av 5759, Vol. 51, No.41
Young sax player shows love for jazz
Mini Mensch
TAMI BICKLEY
Staff Writer
The screeching guitars of rock music that often attract pre-teens have yet to entice 11-year-old Jason Brierley. He prefers the "high energy" and rhythm of jazz over the frenetic sounds of heavy metal.
Jason discovered his fascination with jazz two years ago when his school - Arcadia Neighborhood Learning Center in Scottsdale - offered students a chance to "try out" a variety of musical instruments, so they could choose one to learn and play in the school's beginning band. Although there was no saxophone in the band room that day for Jason to sample, he was familiar with the instrument because his mother, Candee Brierley, plays the clarinet, which resembles a saxophone in that they are both reed woodwinds and have similar fingering charts.
"I tested out on the trombone, trumpet and flute, but I took a (chance, not having tried the saxophone) and said I wanted to play the sax in beginning band," says Jason, who will begin sixth-grade in the fall. That evening, Jason arrived home and informed his father, Scott Brierley, and mother of his future hobby.
"He just came straight up to us and said, 'Hey, I'm starting the saxophone, and you have to get me one,' " says Candee. "I thought it was great."
The Brierleys purchased Jason's first saxophone soon afterward at a local pawn shop. He advanced so rapidly in his technique, he says, that months later, he was placed into the school's intermediate band. When he entered fifth-grade last year, he was placed into advanced band. But his instructors suggested he play the baritone saxophone, instead of his alto saxophone that he had been playing previously. The baritone saxophone is larger and emits lower tones than the alto saxophone. Jason says he was asked to switch instruments because he has "a lot of lung capacity" and because the band was in need of a baritone saxophone player.
During the school year, Jason was asked by his instructors to join the school's jazz band as its youngest member to date.
"Jazz is my favorite kind of music," Jason says. "We play one (song) with a really fast tune and a lot of percussion and low brass. It has a lot of (different) melodies, which I like, too."
Jason and his bandmates also recently formed a new band at the school, called elite band, which is for advanced sixth- through eighth-graders.
Meanwhile, Jason doesn't put his saxophone to rest when school lets out for the summer. He attends Scottsdale Community College Summer Music Camp, a special day camp for musical kids.
Jason, who is a third-generation native of Arizona, lives in Scottsdale with his parents; sister, Heather; and brother, Micah. When he's not making music, he is practicing taekwondo at Scottsdale Black Belt Academy, where he has studied since he was 4.
Jason also enjoys drawing, painting, and the challenge of mathematics. This fall, he will participate in an advanced math class at school. He hopes to apply his mathematical skills toward a job in the architectural field someday. He also plans to become a bar mitzvah at Temple Solel when he turns 13.
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