Jazz 4 Nothin' To Perform at Warminster TriCentennial

7:00 Monday night. At St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Doylestown, tucked away in a small room in the basement, was a group of talent. The room was cramped. The carpet was a toxic mix of lavender and grey. Each of the cinderblock walls was painted an obvious off white. One wall had two large windows, but it looked out into a grass covered alley-way type space, with another large cement wall on the other side. Some kind of storm water drain sat fixed in the center of the lawn.

There were various posters staggered around the room. A globe sat unreachable on a shelf in the corner. On a small chalk board was written what looked like an abandoned lesson plan from a Sunday school or preschool class. The room was barely fit for that - let alone the musical tones that rose from the instruments of the Jazz 4 Nothin' band members as they practiced song after song after song.

Jazz 4 Nothin' will be breaking through those walls on Sept. 10 when the big band performs at Warminster Community Park as part of Warminster Township's TriCentennial Celebration. The band will have a booth set up for recruiting new talented musicians all day long and performing a concert from 2:30 to 4 p.m.

As the band meticulously went over each song in their small, cramped, practice space - with each run, improving more and more - their democratic way of rehearsing seemed to work surprisingly well.

"There is no head director or anything like that" said the band's co-founder and piano player Allison Graham. "We all work together to make the songs sound right."

This was made apparent when first Graham would instruct the baritone players to play softer and then later saxophone player and singer Jen Dillon coached her fellow saxophone players, only to be followed by Steve Doneson, instructing everyone to "Remember balance. I love the energy, but everyone needs to be balanced."

The band started in Jan. 2010 when Graham and a few fellow musicians were drinking coffee at Starbucks together. They were talking about music, as they often did, and how they wanted to do something - Something bigger.

The rest is history. The band was created and then a non-profit organization, called Music 4 Nothin', was started to help the band grow and to spread their love for music to others.

Jazz 4 Nothin' pulls musicians from all over the area ranging in age from 12 to senior citizens. Dillon drives all the way from Reading to make practice every Monday, while Doneson is from right around the corner in Doylestown.

Even Warminster is contributing players in the place of 12-year-old Tyler Dowling and his father. Tyler, who plays the trumpet, is regarded highly by some of the senior band members.

"He's a great trumpet player" said fellow trumpeter John Tangye, of Warwick. "By the time he's in high school he's going to be amazing. I dumped a solo on him today. 'Cause I know he can handle it."

Dowling, who attends Log College Middle School, previously played for a Southampton community band, before making the switch to Jazz 4 Nothin' last year.

But Dowling is only one of about 20 band members, and it takes the diligence and care of everyone to produce a finely played musical number.

So you're probably wondering, "How do they sound?"

A rehearsal is not an adequate example of any musician's best work, but Jazz 4 Nothin' surprised this reporter.

Their attitude on helping one another, the way that anyone could wear the "director hat," their willingness to go over a song again and again and again quickly led them to fine tune each piece - improving it with each take.

And having previously played various concerts in the area including Central Bucks West's Winter Jazz Festival last year, Jazz 4 Nothin' is no stranger to the spotlight.

"We go over every part until it's perfect," said Tangye. "And we don't always do the easiest of songs. Some of the pieces we do, not even college bands will touch them. We love those ones."

This September the band will be playing a number of tunes including Sesame Street and the theme song from a popular movie that is being kept a surprise. One band member was kind enough to say that "It starts with a G."

So, when you're out celebrating Warminster's TriCentennial, keep an ear out for Jazz 4 Nothin'. You just might like what you hear.