Some brought a bit of nerves. Others brought some new instruments.

But all carried in their own raw musical talent last week to the Free State High School’s band room for one purpose – to see if they could make the cut for Lawrence’s new All-City Junior High Jazz Band.

“I did all right,” said a confident Adam Petz, a West Junior High School ninth-grader, who had just finished his audition on the saxophone.

“I’ve only been playing the sax for about a week because I mainly play the clarinet,” Petz said. “But since the clarinet wasn’t included in the jazz band, I decided to switch over to sax.”

Petz was among about 40 junior high students who auditioned for the new band, which is being formed with funding from the Lawrence Arts Commission, Lawrence Arts Center and Hume Music. When formed, the band is expected to have about 30 members.

“It’s for any seventh- through ninth-graders in any Lawrence school – public or private,” said Patrick Kelley, the school district’s arts facilitator.

Central Junior High School seventh-grader Clark Rials warms up around a handful of saxophonists in preparation for his audition at Free State High School for the All-City Junior High Jazz Band. About 40 students auditioned for the band.

Kelley described the tryout turnout as good.

“These guys are kind of jazz embryos,” Kelley said. “They’re first figuring out how to do jazz as they go through the program. We move them up a notch or two into jazz fetuses as we move them through our program.”

The new jazz band is being directed by Tom Hunt, assistant band director at Free State High School, and Darrell Cox, a former local junior high and high school band teacher.

Hunt said the new junior high band will help students learn fundamentals and expression in playing their instruments. They’ll practice on Thursday nights, then have a concert March 7 at the arts center, 940 N.H.

“There will be lots of different styles,” Hunt said. “Swing styles, Latin styles, rock styles, maybe some slower ballad-type of things. My big focus is to get them interested in jazz before they get up here to the high school level – to get them doing some improvisation, creating their own melodies and making their own music before the inhibitions of high school kick in.”

Hannah Foerschler, a Southwest Junior High School eighth-grader who has played the tenor saxophone for two years, said she liked playing jazz, especially improvising.

Her favorite jazz musician is Charlie Parker.

How did her audition go? She smiled.

“It went OK. I kind of bombed the sight reading,” she said.

Ethan Morton-Gaught, a Southwest freshman who plays alto saxophone, came ready to play.

“I love jazz. I love swing. I like listening to it. I like playing it,” Morton-Gaught said. “I’ve been in other jazz bands in other cities before. It’s a lot of fun.”