Ya like jazz?
– Barry B. Benson
If your answer was yes, well have we got the guest for you! We have a 20-30 member big band that is filled with trumpets, trombones, saxophones and all the other jazzy staples. They usually perform at a variety of gigs, from grad balls, to Laurier, to the “Love of Music Marathon”, but like everyone they’ve adapted for our COVID-19 realities. So please make the time for Jake Chateauneuf, conductor and trumpeter in the Engineering faculty’s very own student-lead jazz band: “With Respect to Time”
Q: What do you do at With Respect to Time?
With Respect to Time is, officially, the Faculty of Engineering Jazz Band, although we have students from other faculties as well. We actually have a few students from Laurier too, so we’re not super exclusive. I’m a Co-conductor of the band, so I’m in charge of selecting songs and organizing rehearsals and gigs. When I’m not conducting, I play trumpet usually, but I’ve filled in for piano as well.
Q: What do you think your favourite part about With Respect to Time is?
When I was in high school, I played in a jazz band and enjoyed it, so being able to do that in University is pretty cool. And of course, you get to meet a ton of different people. We have everyone from first years to grad students in our band, and we have students from just about every engineering program, so that’s pretty cool as well.
Q: How would you describe the sense of community at With Respect to Time?
We’re not a competitive band; we like playing [and] we’re doing this for fun. We take our music fairly seriously though. We put effort into practicing our music and getting ready for different gigs, but we’re also pretty laid back. We’ll tell a lot of jokes in rehearsals typically.
Q: How have you adapted to being online?
We’ve done a few different things, but the main thing we started doing is these music videos. We’ve done about one per term now. For the videos, everyone records a part or two at home and sends them to me, then I get to put the video together. It’s been pretty fun, and the videos have been really well received. Another thing we started this term was setting up a Discord server for games and stuff. It’s not really music related, we did Among Us a few weeks ago for instance.
Q: What have you learned from being a part of the band?
From a technical perspective, I’ve gotten a lot better at trumpet. Going into University, I only played trumpet for 2 years and I wasn’t Trumpet 1 or anything. So, I didn’t have a ton of experience. When I joined With Respect to Time, I took over for Trumpet 1, so I had to improve quickly. We play a variety of pieces too. We do some easier charts and we also do some charts that are professional level, so you have to be able to play those. For soft skills, especially since I began conducting, I find myself acting more professional and mature, and being better with time management. When you’re not conducting, you just show up to rehearsals and maybe practice your parts. Our rehearsals are usually like 3-4 hours long and are held once a week. When you’re part of the band, you kind of have to schedule that in with your school work and all that.
Q: How can new members join you?
We have a website (engjazzband.ca)! Under the “join” tab, there’s a registration form that’s usually published around the end of the term. We’ll have a form for the spring term around the middle of April.
One thing I want to emphasize with the band is [that] we can’t provide instruments. Typically, we have a piano and a drum kit on campus. Of course, we’re off campus at the moment, so if you want to join you’ll need an instrument. If you have an instrument lying around and you want to join the band, please do! We are non-audition, so you don’t have to be a professional to join the band.
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