The Arlington High School Jazz Combo is a small, select group made up of the top musicians selected from the Jazz Machine. This group performs in club date, pre- concert, and social event settings. This group is largely focused on performing jazz standards with a very high level of improvisational skill.

Arlington Jazz II is the 2nd Jazz Ensemble at Arlington High School. Membership in this extracurricular ensemble is determined by audition and the group rehearses one day per week for 2 hours each rehearsal. The focus of this intermediate ensemble is to further develop jazz performance skills beyond the basic level towards more advanced concepts and literature. There is also an increased focus on improvisation and listening skills. This ensemble performs in various festivals and concerts within the school district as well as around the county and state.

Arlington Jazz III is the 3rd Jazz Ensemble at Arlington High School. Membership in this extracurricular ensemble is determined by audition and the group rehearses one day per week for 2 hours each rehearsal. The focus of Jazz III is to provide basic instruction in jazz-related rhythms, tone, styles, concepts, listening skills, and basic improvisation. The ultimate goal of this ensemble is to give interested yet inexperienced students an opportunity to study and perform jazz ensemble literature. This ensemble will perform in various festivals and concerts within the school district as well as around the county and state.

The Arlington High School Jazz Machine is the top Jazz Ensemble at Arlington High School, located in LaGrangeville, NY. The Jazz Machine was started by Bill Sweeney as the first jazz ensemble at Arlington High School in the 1970's. Rich Guillen became the director in 1997 and since that time, the Jazz education program at Arlington High School has grown to 3 large Jazz ensembles and a Jazz combo. Membership in all of these extra-curricular ensembles is determined by audition and the groups rehearse one or two evenings per week for 2-3 hours each rehearsal.  

The Jazz Machine is for the most advanced jazz performers and its focus is to perform “concert-oriented” Jazz literature that is often recorded by college or professional big bands, with a greater emphasis on improvisation. The Jazz Machine performs in various festivals and concerts within the school district as well as around the county, state, and the northeast region. The district events include the annual Martin Luther King Tribute, the Arlington Jazz Cabaret, and the District Jazz Night.

The Jazz Machine has performed 20 times at the prestigious Berklee College of Music High School Jazz Festival in Boston. This is the largest one-day high school Jazz festival in the USA.  The Jazz Machine has won First Place at the Berklee Festival 4 times (2009, 2010, 2012, and 2103), and placed in the top 3 just about every year since 2007.  The Jazz Machine has also attended the Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival in Rockville & Bethesda MD every year since 2018. The Jazz Machine has been a finalist every year at the MAJF, placing 1st in 2019 & 2023, 2nd in 2018, 2020 and 2025, and 3rd in 2024 (2022 was a non-competitive year due to returning from Covid).  In January of 2020, the Jazz Machine performed as an invited ensemble at the Jazz Education Network’s National Conference in New Orleans. 

Richard Guillen is the director of the Jazz program at Arlington High School and directs the Jazz Machine and the Jazz Combo as well as assisting and consulting with the school’s 2 other jazz ensembles, Jazz II and Jazz III.  Jazz II and Jazz III are directed by Mr. Evan Rzodkiewicz.  

The Jazz program at Arlington High School offers a wide variety of events for the Arlington students and community.

Be sure to visit, like, and follow the Jazz Machine on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArlingtonJazzMachine/