Tulsa Band Works With High School Students At Camp Ending With Performance At Drillers Game

A band from Tulsa is sharing its love of New Orleans-style jazz with high school students this summer. 

King Cabbage Brass Band is hosting Brass in The Ball Park, a two-week camp culminating with a performance at a Drillers baseball game. 

Members of King Cabbage Brass Band say there are a lot of really talented students around Tulsa, but this camp gets them out of their comfort zone to try something new.

It's day one of camp and that means day one of rehearsal for these 26 young musicians. 

Members of the band are teaching them what it means to play New Orleans Style Jazz. This band is used to playing sold-out shows, but the kids are not just here to watch, they're here to play themselves.

"They're all fantastic players but we're giving them kind of an opportunity to step outside of their comfort zone and have some fun," band leader Greg Fallis said.

He hopes to teach the kids how to improvise and even use their voices in the songs. 

"It's more free it's supposed to be expressive," trumpet player Aiden Shelton said,

He is returning to camp for a second time and says hitting those high notes is satisfying.

"Good improv is the closest you'll get to god if you believe in such things, it's just pure creation is what it is," he says.

Aiden and the other campers here may just be getting started, but the music is already coming together. In two weeks, they'll be performing in front of fans at a Driller's baseball game. 

"Nerve-wracking because it's the largest crowd I've been in front of."

And while teaching can sometimes be a challenge.

"It's kind of like herding cats," Fallis said.

He says seeing these kids learn and play makes it all worth it.

The camp also includes tours of the Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie Center and even a rehearsal day at Cain's Ballroom.

The performance at the Drillers games will be on Thursday, June 27th, and Saturday, June 29th.