Dec 25, 2007

Real-life school of rock

Kehillah Jewish High's band prefers classics to classical

By Banks Albach / Daily News Staff Writer

Visitors to Kehillah Jewish High School's music department in Palo Alto won't find a marching band.

Students in this ensemble play a different tune, one that Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page would be proud of.

Now in its second year, the Kehillah Jam Band - a group of 13 students ranging from freshmen to seniors - grew out of a student-parent survey two years ago that ranked the need for guitar and music classes high on the private school's elective list.

On a recent Monday this month, four students entered the corner studio after lunch and picked up their instruments, ready to play songs by the Beatles, Sublime and the Who.

"That's how class starts," instructor Tom Romero said. "They just come in and start playing."

Jacob Rhein, 14, who started playing piano at age 6, warmed up with songs by the 1980s band Journey while 15-year-old Alex Karel strummed a Led Zeppelin riff. Evan Andriella, 15, made adjustments to his drum kit and Hannah Leni, 15, primed her bass lines.

"This is more free-spirited," Evan said, recalling band classes at public schools. "There's not as many rules. We get to choose the music we play."

Karel said he is already expanding his musical horizons beyond his favored classic rock, dabbling in jazz and even heavy metal.

The band is split into three groups, which practice three times week. On a regular basis, the band travels to other Jewish schools to play concerts. Figuring out which of the 13 students gets the gig depends mostly on availability and skill level.

Last year, the band won first place in 98.5 KFOX's annual School of Rock competition, earning the students a live slot on the radio station's morning show and $3,000 for the school's music department.

Students who want to join the band need to demonstrate some musical skills that Romero can fine-tune through his classes.

Romero said that by giving his music students freedom, he hopes they'll slowly expand into other genres outside of rock 'n' roll.

"It gives them a good intro," Romero said. "But they are teenagers. They want to play loud and they want to rock."



E-mail Banks Albach at balbach@dailynewsgroup.com.