Gunn alumnus and jazz artist Akira Tana made Gunn’s 31st Annual Jazz Guest Artist Concert on April 4 a high quality event full of hot drumbeats, showing off talented musicians from Gunn and Palo Alto High School (Paly).

After a short introduction by Band Director Todd Summers, Tana kicked off the evening conducting eight drummers from both Gunn and Paly at the same time. “Have you ever seen eight drummers on-stage at the same time?” Tana asked the audience—to which nobody said a word. “It’s my first time too!” The drum sound filled the entire Spangenberg Theater and showed that percussion can be much more than just a beat in the background.

The members of the Gunn Jazz Combo showed off their talents by playing upbeat rhythms during the next performance. The Combo consists of junior saxophonist Alex Eckstein, sophomore trumpetist Ben Kreitman, junior guitarist Kevin Wang, senior bassist Sebastian Bertsch and junior drummer Max Eckstein. Tana jumped in on the drums and was clearly having a great time. His face was constantly smiling and his body was full of energy.

The audience used the 10-minute break to chat about the concert. Some purchased Tana’s CDs.

The show continued with Paly’s Jazz Band and Gunn’s Big Band Jazz Ensemble; each played four songs. Paly’s director Jeff Willner led a performance featuring about 20 students. Tana played the drums for three of their songs.

Afterwards, Jazz Director Mark Dungan introduced the Big Band and the last performance of the night. From traditional slow jazz, to fast and original jazz beats, the musicians did a good job showing off what they had been working on.

The last number of the evening ended with a powerful drum solo by Akira Tana. The loudly-clapping audience asserted the concert’s excellence and quality choice of guest artist.