In mid-May, the posters for Essentially Ellington arrived from New York, all shipped to the home of sophomore Jazz 1 trumpeter Eli Faris. Throughout the day, band members or their parents arrived as Faris...

Seven years ago, at about age 12, senior Bryan Garcia played a bass guitar that was once his brother’s and won by his dad in an eBay auction. He had just picked up his bass for the first time in years...