Band to Play at Inaugural Festivities After All

Assemblyman Richard Polanco has taken up the chorus for the Eagle Rock High School Jazz Band, salvaging the teen-agers’ trip to Washington to play at the presidential inaugural festivities.

It was a trip they didn’t think they would make, band director Edward Gibble said.

“We had decided not to go because it was too expensive,” he said.

The trip will cost about $26,000 for the 24 youths, who range in age from 15 to 17.

“If we couldn’t afford to take all the kids, I wasn’t going to leave a child behind,” said Gibble, chairman of the school’s music department.

Enter Polanco. Aide Bill Mabie said the assemblyman is raising about half the money through corporate donations, with parents making up the other half.

“We’re going to try and do some fund-raising to pay Polanco back and the parents back,” said Gibble.

Last summer Gibble contacted Educational Field Studies, a company that arranges music tours for school groups, about the possibility that the band could play in Washington during the inauguration.

The gig was arranged in September, but with some parents out of work and money generally tight in the recession, the trip seemed out of reach.

According to Mabie, the parents contacted Polanco and other local elected officials by letter. The assemblyman secured a $2,500 donation from a publicity firm, then found out it wasn’t nearly enough. Polanco “came down (to the school), heard the kids and said, ‘This group’s going,’ ” said Gibble.

The students were ecstatic when they heard about a month ago that they were definitely on their way to Washington. They will be playing at the Navy Memorial on Jan. 18 and expect to attend the Inauguration on Jan. 20.

“I was really excited because it’s not an opportunity that most people get to experience,” said alto sax player Susan Inman, 16.

Band members are hoping they’ll get the chance to jam with Bill Clinton.

“We all think it would be kind of neat,” said Kincaid Smith, 17, who plays trumpet. “It’s kind of a fantasy that we’d all like to see come true.”

The band has been practicing extra hard. “We’re trying to get all we can in,” said Gibble. “We’ll do five hours today. They want to play well. I think (the excitement is) really making them buckle down. They understand where they’re going and what’s going on. They’re the ones who asked for the extra hour tonight.”